Desolate
by Liverta
Summary: In a world were your shunned you want, more than anything, a home, a place to belong, and someone to love. This was impossible for us... until now. Contestshipping/Pokeshipping/Oldrivalshipping/Ikarishipping/OCxOC. Rated T for language and probably violence in the future. Please feel free to R&R any constructive criticism, I could use it :P
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Pokemon or any of it's characters.

 **Prologue**

Welcome to my world.

A world, were you're either wealthy or poor.

The rich think of themselves as gods, and that others are their slaves.

Society simply thought that when it came to power it went:

Royal Families.

The Wealthy.

Knights and Soldiers.

The Merchants.

And at the bottom were the peasants.

And it looked as if this wasn't going to change.

However, mother nature decided to try and fix this.

A deadly plague swept the world, those of us who were infected were told to say goodbye to those we loved, but for some it had a weird effect.

There are people like me, ones who were told they had the plague but survived it despite never getting treatment. Nobody can explain it but the disease somehow altered out genetic makeup.

As a result, people like me have been given a new name… the Desolate.

Each of the Desolate were effected in similar ways … we have the abilities to transform our bodies, and with these transformations we get a specific animal… for example, I have the ability of a bat, I have supersonic hearing and voice, I have wings and I can mauver easily in the dark.

We look like any regular human when we don't show our animal side, so we can blend in to an extent… but stand out too much and others will suspect you.

As a result, there was a new power system:

Royal Families

The Wealthy

Knights and Soldiers.

Desolate Traders (Glorified Slave Traders)

The Merchants.

The Peasants.

And at the very bottom, treated like dirt, were the Desolate, we were shunned and beaten into fear.

But we won't take it any longer.

This is just a prologue so if you think i should continue then please tell me :) I hope you liked it :P


	2. Chapter 1

Authors note: I will be inserting my two OC's into this chapter.

Enjoy :)

 **Chapter 1 – May's POV**

The town was busy with activity.

Nobody even saw me.

I walked past stalls casually taking things… but I was so careful nobody noticed.

By the time I had walked through the street I had handfuls of food.

I slipped into an alleyway before manoeuvring my way through the town before arriving at the outskirts "May's back! May's back!" I small voice yelled as I walked up to an old building, an orphanage.

I walked in the doors and was immediately welcomed by the younger children "May your back" a booming voice asked as we all froze.

A large man made his way down the stairs and glared at me "You know you aren't allowed to leave without my permission" he spat as the children ran too their rooms.

I stood my ground and looked up to him "Or what old man?" I asked disgusted from the small crims and pieces of food and sauce in his bushy beard "Or I tell the Soldiers that you've been stealing food" he said with a sickening smirk as he took one or the candies I stole but I just smirked "Then you lose your main food income" I said as his eye twitched, I picked up on it that it happens when he knows I'm being annoyingly correct.

He sighed and stomped off back to his room upstairs "That's what I thought" I said before walking over to the other kids that lived here.

I'm the oldest one here and the only one who actually takes care of them, the old man just houses orphans so he'll get money from the higher ups.

I walked in the room and put all the food onto a table before looking at the kids "Foods here" I announced before they all ran over to me with happy smiles "Did you get apples this time?" one girl asked happily "You bet I did" I said handing her one.

After everyone was fed I left for work "I'll see you when I get home" I said before getting changed and heading out.

I work on the out skirts of the city at a farm where I take care of animals and crops. When I do a good job my boss sometimes lets me take a chicken or some fruit home.

I arrived at the front door and waited for my boss to come out "Ah May" an old woman said as she walked outside "Hello Lady Parrington" I greeted happily as she smiled at me.

This was my boss, she too is a Desolate, she saw me one day when I was flying around the forest and offered me work, she never really told me what animal she is but I know it's a kind of cat.

We walked out to the orchard "These fruits are to be harvested, here is a basket" she said before I walked out to the fruit trees and began picking off the fruit "So dead how is little Max?" Lady Parrington asked me with a smile "He's gotten over his cold… but he's still convinced that all Desolate are evil monsters… I guess being attacked by one doesn't help" I said referring to my younger brother who also lives in the orphanage with me, he doesn't know that I'm a Desolate, in fact nobody but Lady Parrington knows.

I heard a shall shriek "What's wrong?" I asked worried "Oh nothing dear… just a worm in one of my apples… I really need to get something to stop their invasion" I laughed a little at Lady Parrington's over dramatizing of a simple worm.

I worked for a few more hours until the sun set "Dear are you sure you don't want to stay for dinner? I'm more than capable of cooking for two" she said happily "That's okay, besides I told the kids I'd bring home a chicken. And thanks to you I won't have to steal one" I said as we both laughed a little "Well I'll see you tomorrow morning to help me pick the medical herbs" she said before I happily ran down the road and back to town.

I was happily welcomed by the kids and they especially liked their dinner.

After I tucked them all into bed and helped with one of their fevers I decided to go for a midnight fly.

Lady Parrington always said that it was too risky but being a bat I had easy navigational skills and since it's dark it was easy to go unnoticed.

Suddenly I waked into something… or someone.

"What the hell? The sky's not yours, look where you're going" someone grumbled as he rubbed his head "Sorry" I mumbled, not wanting to get into a fight… then I actually realised the fact that both of us were flying "Y-you're a… Desolate" I said as he crossed his arms "Wow, what gave it away? the Eagle wings? The talons? The fact I'm flying?" he asked as he was still angry "I get it" I said before we went silent.

I looked him up and down.

He had dirty blonde hair and hazel coloured eyes, his wings were huge… but what would I expect from an eagle.

It was at that moment I recognised him "Chase? Chase Driver?" I asked as he froze "Wait? Are You May Maple?" he asked before his grumpy scowl turned into a pleasant smile.

"So… you're a bat" he commented "That would explain why I always see you stealing fruit" he added with a smirk.

I decided to retort "Well I guess the eagle would explain how you can follow anything with your eyes… especially Levy" I finished with a knowing smile "S-shut up" he said with a dark blush covering his face "Oh come on, you know I'm right" I said as I smirked and he looked away "When did you… umm become a Desolate?" I asked knowing that to become a Desolate after the outbreak was to either be born a Desolate from at least one parent also being one, have a near death experience, or save someone from their own near death experience.

He was about to answer me when a red glow brought both of our attentions to a large crowd marching through one of the streets "Oh crap" I said "What?" Chase asked, he had only come to town recently so he hasn't seen this before "I give you the hate parade" I mumbled as we both landed on one of the rooftops and ducked down just enough so we could see but also so we were hidden.

Chase looked over to me "What's a hate parade?" he asked "Basically if someone in town is discovered to be a Desolate… they take them… burn down their house… and then sell them to the Desolate Traders… but not before severely injuring to so called 'disgrace' by beating or even burning them" I said sadly "Shit… now I know why you always take food without a care" he said obviously shocked that the kind villagers could go from happy to terrifying on a whim "Who's house do you think they're going to?" Chase asked as we watched them march with their torches and weapons.

I looked in the direction they were marching and thought if I might have heard either people talking about being a Desolate of the sounds of someone transforming… but I came up blank.

We watched them for a few seconds before a large muscly man entered one of the houses.

It was old and whoever was staying there wasn't doing well for themselves.

Suddenly the man was thrown out the second story window "They threw him like a rag doll" Chase commented as we watched the event unfold "No kidding" I said before they villagers started throwing their torches, lighting the old house on fire.

At that moment I picked up on the voice inside the house.

It was barely above a whisper but I could hear it "Not again… why me?" it was Levy!

I stood up "There after Levy's family" I said as Chase looked up at me "How would you know?" he asked confused "I have sonar hearing" I said before I looked down at the crowd then to the building "Okay Chase we have two choices… we either do what any other Desolate would do and run away to avoid capture" I said nervously "Or?" Chase asked before I turned to him with a brave smile "Or we can freak the hell out of those assholes down there and save Levy and her family" I said but didn't give Chase a chance to answer.

I began running along the rooftops and spread my wings, getting ready to take off.

I glanced back at the orphanage, it was barely visible, but I knew it was there "Goodbye" I mumbled knowing that even if I somehow save Levy… I'll still have to leave.

For a split second I considered turning around and running home, but the reassuring footsteps belonging to Chase reassured me that I wasn't alone.

We both jumped off of the roof and began swan diving at the crowd.

The weaker people ran at the first dive, but others stuck around trying to stab at us as we swooped.

We both glanced at each other before doing one final swoop before smashing through the walls of the burning building and transforming back to restrict the area we took up "Levy!" I yelled as I heard faint coughing "May?" she asked as Chase and I ran to her.

We shovelled through rubble before finding her… she was stuck under a beam.

Chase and I immediately went to get it off of her but just as we were about to try and lift it off of her another part of the roof fell down.

"This place is falling apart!" Chase yelled over the roaring fire and mob outside who were actually chanting "BURN!" over and over.

We tried lifting the beam again but it was no use, the beam was way to heavy "Guy's get out of here" Levy mumbled with an emotionless voice "What? No way!" Chase and I yelled angrily.

Levy used her free hand to grab my collar (I was crouching) and dragged it down "They know who you are now… you two know just as well as I do that I have no luck of getting out of here and there going to start putting the fire out… you two can still get away" she said angrily with tears in her eyes "We can't just leave you here!" Chase yelled "If you don't leave then I die for nothing! They already shot the rest of my family! I was shot in the leg and I feel myself bleeding out! I've known you two were Desolate from the start and know that with your kind hearts you don't want to leave but I'll put it this way… if you don't leave now you're going to become slaves! And I don't want to die knowing that! SO GET THE FUCK OUT OF THIS BURNING INFURNO OR SO HELP ME GOD I WILL HATE MYSELF!" she screamed at us.

She let go of my collar and began sobbing into the floor "Please… just go" she cried out.

Chase and I were frozen solid… we knew we had no choice but to obey her wishes.

Just as we were about to burst through the roof Chase was tackled by one of the villagers "Chase!" Levy yelled scared as they landed just out of her reach as she was forced to do nothing but watch.

I on the other hand could do something.

I grabbed one of the fallen planks of wood and wacked the man off of Chase "Thanks" he mumbled as I helped him get up "LOOK OUT!" Levy yelled before everything went black.

Yay first chapter!

Please let me know what you think so far. Feel free to give me constructive critisism (I know i say that every time but I need it) and i hope you liked it :)


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 – May's POV**

My eyes snapped open and I frantically looked at my surroundings "Hey, hey calm down" Chase said calmingly as he held my shoulders "Chase? Where's Levy?" I asked having no intentions of calm.

I felt my heart sink when he looked away with saddened eyes "May…" he started "Don't you say it" I said as I felt the tears coming to the surface "You got hit on the head by some guy and just as you collapsed… the building started collapsing… I picked you up and Levy made me promise to keep you safe… right after that she fell through the floor into the burning inferno below" he said sadly.

He looked away and scrunched his eyes closed. His hands began to shake and I could tell he was trying really hard to keep it together "Chase… just let it out… you do neither of us any favours by keeping it in" I said as tears of my own began to fall.

In the flash of an eye he was clinging to me, he was shaking… this was horrible.

After a good twenty minutes passed he let go of me "Thanks for that… I mean… we barely know each other… and I just cried in front of you" he said with a chuckle and tried to pass it off as a joke.

We sat there in silence before I asked something I should have asked a while ago "Where are we?" I asked.

"At my house" a familiar voice said as an old woman walked down the stairs across from my makeshift bed "Lady Parrington!" I yelled in delight as she smiled at me.

She set a tray of food down next to me before hitting me "I was so worried" she said strictly "W-what?" I asked confused "Do you know how I felt when this boy showed up last night with you in his arms covered in ash and a bleeding wound on your head?" she scolded before looking to Chase "Now you haven't told me your name… speak and how did you know to come here?" she demanded.

Chase looked away "Well I knew that Levy comes here every now and again to buy fruits… one time I saw you in your panther form" he said simply "So you figured that since I was a Desolate I would help?" she asked kindly "Well… kinda" he answered before he too go a hit to the head "Stupid!" she yelled "What? Why?" he asked rubbing his head "You lucked out this time because I know May… you two need to learn that other Desolate will willingly sell you out if it means benefits for themselves… just because you're in the same situation doesn't mean you'll get sympathy" she said angrily before her expression turned sad "Especially now since you both have to leave" she added.

Chase and I looked at each other… we both knew she was right. The people in town have seen our faces… our only option now is to run.

Lady Parrington stood up and was about to say something when a loud banging came from the front door.

She looked down to us and said "Eat that quickly and stay silent… you might have to make a quick escape" before turning and walking towards the stairs.

Chase and I stood up and walked over to the bottom of the stairs and began listening in.

Lady Parrington walked calmly to the front door like she had just woken up "Do you have any idea what time it is?" she asked as she opened the door "Yes and we're sorry about that" a male voice said.

It was an elegant but ruff sounding voice, obviously owned by an adult male… but I had a sinking feeling that I knew that voice.

"Why are you here?" Lady Parrington asked the man was quiet for a moment before pulling out either a piece of paper, a picture or a list "We're looking for your worker, May Maple" he said "Well she comes to work towards the middle of the day so maybe if you stick around until then?" she asked as if she were a defenceless old lady "She's a good actor" Chase whispered "Yea" I agreed as their conversation continued "Well we fear she might now come to work today ma'am" he said changing his tone slightly "Oh my… has something happened to her?" she asked worried "Look Lady… I'll cut the theatricals… I'm a Desolate Trader… this girl was once one of mine… she was spotted trying to save a Desolate from a fire and after a little looking around we found the orphanage she was living in, there we learned she's been working here" he explained "Now… would you be so kind as to tell me where she could have gone off to?" he asked as we could hear the threat in his voice "Well she mentioned that she liked going to the river… he feeds the animals there" she said kindly.

The Man thanked her and walked off.

"Is that true?" Chase asked "Is what?" I asked with my head down "About you being a slave… is that why you wanted to save Levy so badly?" he asked worried as I kept looking away "Yea… I get away from that guy a few years back… Levy actually helped me" I said with a sad smile "How'd she do that?" he asked "Well… before coming to this town Levy's family were travellers… they stumbled upon me after I got away and hid me until we got here" I said before walking to the food and started eating.

I think Chase could tell I didn't want to talk and sat next to me and also started eating.

A few hours passed before Lady Parrington came back down "I think you should go now… I've already scouted the area and there's nobody" she said before bringing down two sacks filled with food and some clothes.

We both looked down at the bags before putting them on then walking upstairs.

Lady Parrington opened the door and took one last check "Alright you two take these" she said handing us two cloaks "it's almost winter… you'll need to keep warm" she added as we put them on.

We both stepped outside and spread our wings.

I turned to Lady Parrington and quickly hugged her "Thank you so much" I said as she hugged me back.

I slowly let go and smiled one more time before we started running and gaining enough speed to take off.

We circled the farm once before speeding off to the forest "So where do you want to go?" Chase asked me as he spun around and did a few flips "Well I don't know… we could go to another town" I said unsure "Really?" he asked with a strange tone "What?" I asked slowing down to a stop as we began a conversation in the air "What if the next town is even worse?" he asked "Well what do you want to do? There are Desolate haters everywhere" I said as he knew I had a good point "Well then what town do you think would be good?" he asked annoyed as we were both stumped.

It was great to finally have some freedom but now that we had it we had no idea what to do with it.

We both just mused while staying mid-flight.

We were both snapped out of our thoughts when an arrow flew between us "Look what we have here" the man who fired the arrow said as several others joined him "Crap Desolate hunters!" Chase yelled before grabbing my wrist and started flying "Hunters?" I asked confused as we dodged arrows flying at us "They hunt Desolates because our fur, feathers or even scales are a higher quality than regular animals" he said with a twinge of fear.

After hours of running we finally lost them, but we were in desperate need of rest "There's a cave over there" I said as I pointed off towards the face of a cliff "How'd you know?" he asked as we slowly flew up to it "There are a few bats in the area… they told me" I said tiredly as we landed on the small ledge.

After collecting a few logs and branches from nearby trees we got a fire started "If you told me yesterday I'd be sleeping in a cave I'd have called you stupid" Chase said with a slight laugh "Yea well… I guess it'll be cave life for us for the next few days" I said as I lied on my cloak and used my bag as a pillow.

"Hey Chase" I said as I heard a mumbled yes "before… with the hunters… you spoke like you've encountered them before" I said cautiously "I have" he said shocking me that he answered so easily "What happened?" I asked "Before coming to that town… my family were attacked by them… and my sister was killed for her loricate wings" he said sadly "That's horrible" I said sadly "It's fine… the way I see it is we dwell on the past then we can't have a future" he said as I could hear the exhaustion in his voice "Well you've got a point there" I said before rolling over and closing my eyes.

Short chapter sorry but you will be introduced to other characters next chapter, I hope you like it so far and I hope you review. I will try and update sooner than before since my school work is finished and my schedule is opening up.


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3 – Drew's POV**

Today's been so slow!

Misty and Ash have been gone for the past three hours doing who knows what, leaving me alone at camp.

It was at least busy last night when the hunters sped past trying to catch someone.

I sighed as I drew in the dirt "I wonder who thy were chasing?" I asked myself before I stood up and wondered around the area.

It was pretty quiet before I heard rustling coming from behind me "Who's there?" I asked prepping to transform if needed "Relax Drew it's just us" Ash said as he and Misty emerged from the trees with a net of fish "It's about time I was getting hungry" I complained as I got out my hunting knife and began to gut them "It amazes me how used to this you are Drew" Misty commented "Why's that surprising?" I asked defensively "Oh nothing… just that a few months ago you didn't even know how to gut a fish and was even grossed out the first few times you did it" she said smugly before shovelling through her bag "What are you looking for?" Ash asked "Lemons… I thought I picked some before we left the last town" she said as Ash's eyes widened "You ate them didn't you?" I asked with a smirk as he just laughed awkwardly "I'll go get some more" I said as I washed my hands "Where?" Misty asked.

I smelt the air "I can smell a citrus scent coming from the west… shouldn't be too far from here" I said as I dried my hands "Are you sure that's a good idea?" Ash asked "Yea there were hunters last night" Misty added worried "It's fine as long as I don't look out of place" I said before my whole body began morphing.

I shook my fur as I stretched out my new shape "You have to teach me how to do a full body transformation one of these days" Ash said as he continued my job with the fish.

I sniffed the air again and began walking in the direction of the scent of lemons "Hurry back doggie!" Ash yelled teasingly "I'm a wolf!" I yelled back before taking off into a sprint.

I loved running in this form, Desolate hunters don't notice me since the ability of a full body transformation is rare and unknown to regular humans.

I stopped at what was probably the biggest lemon tree I've ever seen.

I was about to transform into my human form when I heard rustling coming from the trees above me, thinking it might be Desolate Hunters I backed away from the tree a little.

Suddenly a dark figure came from above and landed in front of the tree.

It was a girl, with large demon like wings "A bat?" I asked myself as she tucked her wings away.

I continued observing her 'Could she be the one they were chasing?' I thought as I for some reason couldn't keep my eyes off of her.

She opened a small bag and began taking a few lemons.

I gentle wind blew causing several leafs to fall from nearby trees "Wow" I said as she looked like some kind of angle "Who's there?" she asked after I accidently moved the bush I was in.

She continued looking in my direction. I sighed and cautiously walked out.

She stared at me for a second before smiling at me "Hey boy, it's alright I won't hurt you" she said kindly but I stood my ground. She sighed and reached into her bag and pulled out a piece from a cooked rabbit "Come on I'm friendly" she said as she smiled kindly at me.

Part of me wanted to transform back and embarrass her but the other wanted to see what she'd do.

I walked up to her and gently took the meat from her and began eating it like how I've seen other wolves eat.

She smiled down at me and cautiously reached out her hand "Are you friendly?" she asked as she kept her hand at a safe distance. Remembering how wolves act I sniffed her hand and pressed my head up to it "Wow so soft" she commented before standing up and spreading her wings "I'll see you around" she said before taking off leaving me stunned "Who was that?" I asked myself as I felt my face heat up.

I quickly gathered a few lemons before running back to camp "Great timing Drew, breakfast is almost done" Misty said as I handed her the lemons and she began making a dressing for the fish.

We ate in silence before Ash finally spoke up "So what took so long Drew?" he asked as I froze for a split second, that was however long enough for Misty to catch on "Who was it?" she asked with a teasing smirk causing me to choke "W-what are you talking about?" I asked as Ash handed me a cup of water "Oh please I have five brothers, they may have abandoned me but they at least taught me a few tell tales about guys… and your totally smitten" she said teasingly "Look I have no idea what you're talking about… it was just further away than I thought" I said trying to make up an excuse "Sure it was" she teased as Ash just laughed.

I was about to retort when a loud scream pierced our ears.

We all stood p instantly and shared a look before we all transformed.

 **May's POV**

That was suck a kind wolf… I wonder if it was a domestic wolf?

I flew up to the cave and saw Chase was still sleeping "Hey Chase wake up" I said as I poked his side, nothing.

I yelled his name a few more times but I got no response.

I quickly checked if he was breathing just in case, when I realised he was a devilish smirk spread across my cheeks before I grabbed my pocket knife and cut one of the lemons in half.

I rolled him over and poked his face a few more times, but after no reaction a smirked and held the lemon over his mouth and began to squeeze.

Chase shot up and immediately reached for water "Looking for this?" I asked holding his water bottle.

After getting his water he glared at me "Not cool" he said before looking outside "What time is it?" he asked "Not long after sunrise" I said as I began to look through our stuff "What are you looking for?" he asked with a yawn "Did Lady Parrington give us a net?" I asked as I looked through the bag "She gave us knifes, food and clothes… surely she gave us a net of some sort" I added as I finished looking through my bag "Actually I think there's one in mine… you got a knife?" he asked "Not just one, I got three… a pocket knife, a hunting knife and a switchblade" I said remembering when I found them this morning.

Chase dug around in his bag before pulling out a small-ish net "Will this do?" he asked handing it to me "Yep… while I do this could you start the fire again?" I asked pointing to the pile of ash "Sure just don't take too long… those hunters might still be around" he said before flying out to gather more burning materials.

I looked around before spotting a large lake "That should do" I mumbled before taking off.

I've gone fishing a few times before, Levy's dad was a hawk Desolate so he taught me how to fish by swooping the water with a net after laying out bait.

After reaching the water I sprinkled small bits of water across the surface of the water and waited o few seconds before spreading out the net and doing a swan dive along the water's surface.

It took a few tries but I eventually caught enough to give us a big breakfast.

I was about to fly back but I decided to rest for a bit, with the hectic two days I've had anyone would need a break.

I sat on the riverbank for a few seconds, just relaxing and enjoying the scenery, pure tranquillity.

I was torn from my relaxed state when the sound of a chain rang in my ears.

I threw my body to the side and watched as I barely missed a chain net being thrown at me "Damn we missed" someone said as he and sever others emerged from the tree line "Hunters" I hissed as I stood up ready to either run or fly.

Several more came out of the forest and I realised running was no longer an option "Wow a bat… never seen that before" the guy I assumed was the leader said with a sickening smile and greed perpetrating from his every pore "hey boss what would we do with her though?" one asked "Yea at best we can take those talons on her wings" one commented and for a moment I thought they'd let me go if I wasn't valuable "Maybe we should let this one go boss" one said from the trees before being shot down by his own boss "We will do no such thing… a bat is hard to come by… most flying Desolate are birds… think of the money we could rake in with this one" he said as his eyes filled with want as he stared at me making me cringe in disgust.

I quickly turned and used what little speed I had to try and take off.

I managed to stay airborne for all of three seconds before a rope rapped around my left leg and hearing a loud crack noise "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" I screamed in pain and fear before falling into the water.

I was dragged out of the water seconds later and saw my rescuers were the exact people I was trying to get away from "Next time it's one of those wings" the boss said with a smile as I shook in fear.

He reached down to me and grabbed my face "Y'now… you're not too bad to look at girlie" he commented but it just made me want to hurl.

Disgusted, I spat at his face, causing him to cringe in anger "You bitch!" he yelled before grabbing me by the throat and straddling me "Asshole" I rasped out as he just squeezed tighter.

Just as I felt like I was going to pass out a loud yell took the boss's attention away from me "What the hell are you idiots doing?" he asked annoyed but didn't move from his previous position.

It was silent for a few seconds before someone was thrown through a tree and into the lake "She's got allies!" one of them yelled as a battle broke out.

The boss looked down at me with an angered look "I suppose bitches travel in packs" he said getting ready to punch me.

I closed my eyes, waiting for the impact… but it never came.

I felt him being thrown off of me and I opened my eyes in shock.

The boss was meters away from me and standing protectively between us was a boy with grass green hair and a tail from what I could see.

After sitting up I noticed he also had a set of dog ears on his head… and his eyes… they seemed so familiar "Stand back" he growled before charging at the hunter's boss.

I watched in shock as the boy easily over powered not only the boss but a dozen others.

By the end of it the boy was covered in blood.

He turned to me and spat some blood off to the side "Are you okay? Can you stand?" he asked as he walked closer "You" I stuttered "Your scared now aren't you?" he asked quietly but I didn't hear "You're the wolf from before aren't you?" I asked shocked and got the same expression back "How'd you know?" he asked.

I laughed a little "Well your eyes are hard to forget… and wolves usually aren't that kind" I said before blushing at the first part "MAY!" Chase yelled as he flew down to me.

I looked up at him and smiled "Chase…" before "WHAT THE FUCK IF YOU'D HAVE TAKEN ANY LONGER I COULD BE ON MY WAY TO A SLAVE TRADE!" I yelled angrily as he flinched back "I'm sorry… but when I finally reached you that guy was already fighting… I guess seeing that much bloodshed made me freeze" Chase whispered as he looked at the rope around my leg "This guy has a name" my saviour said annoyed "And it is?" Chase asked looking back to him "It's Drew Hayden… so who are you two? … don't you know this forest is crawling with Desolate Hunters?" he asked with a curious tone before walking over to us "I'm Chase… Chase Driver" Chase said unsure before Drew crouched down and tore the rope off "And you princess?" he asked me as he offered me his hand "My name is May Maple… why are your friends hiding in the bushes?" I asked shocking him.

Drew sighed and looked over to the trees "Come out you two" he said before two people came out with curious looks "How'd you know we were here?" the boy asked "I have sonar hearing… plus Drew here couldn't have beaten all of them on his own" I said as Drew helped me up only for me to fall back to the ground "What's wrong?" the girl asked running up to me "Oh crap" I mumbled as I looked to my ankle only to see a large purple bump "Yep that's a break… luckily Desolate heal fast… even so stay off of it for a good two weeks" she said with a kind smile "How'd you know that?" Chase said curious before the girl looked up to him and smiled.

Chase and I gasped… instead of regular human teeth that we were expecting, she had sharp shark teeth "I'm a shark Desolate… and before being banished I worked at my family pharmacy and worked with all sorts of injuries" she said proudly before helping me stand "We have a camp nearby is you two want to stay with us if you want" the boy offered.

I looked back to Chase and I could tell we both wanted to go "Sure… but where are you two going after this?" I asked worried they might be going the way we came from "A town known a Lar-fisto… a port town" she said happily.

I already has this chapter half written and my minds on creative overdrive so two chapters in one day! whoo!


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4 – May's POV**

"There it is!" Ash yelled as we made our way over the hill and was given a beautiful view of Lar-fisto "Ash I know your exited but maybe calm down a little" Chase said with a slight chuckle.

We've been traveling together for a few days now. I made quick friends with Misty and Chase with Ash… Drew… I can't get a good read on him… sometimes he's charismatic, flirty and won't stop calling me things like princess and batty… other times he clams up completely and ignores me.

I was snapped out of my train of thoughts when Chase called my name "May" "What?" I asked quickly "Nothing… just that… do you want to check anything out while we're here?" he asked readjusting me on his back.

The whole time we've been traveling, Chase has been carrying me on his back, he doesn't say anything but I can tell that he's getting tired.

"Hey… why don't you put me down Chase?" I asked kindly "And let you hobble along? No" he said stubbornly "If you don't put me down I'll sonic screech into your ears" I threatened "May… usually I would refuse but I like my hearing to much to go against you" he said with a chuckle.

He made his way over to a tree trunk and set me down "What's wrong" Drew asked walking over to us "She's forcing me to take a break" Chase said with a slight chuckle "If you want I can carry you for a while princess" Drew said in a flirtatious tone.

I sighed and put a hand up "No need kind sir but I'll manage on my own" I said in a posh tone as a joke.

Chase and Drew looked at each other then back at me "How?" they both asked.

I reached behind me and pulled up a thin branch before I began skinning it "What are you doing?" Drew asked curious "Making a walking stick" I said simply as I used my knife to smooth it out to an extent "Why didn't you do that before?" Chase asked a little annoyed "Because I knew that big strong Chase would be offended if I refused his help from the get go" I said teasingly as I ruffled his hair causing him to pout.

"Hey what's taking so long?" Ash yelled from down the road "Where coming kitty!" Drew yelled "Ha so funny!" Ash yelled sarcastically.

We eventually made our way into town and were welcomed with festive music "What's going on?" Chase asked confused as we walked through town "It's the winter festival!" Ash yelled happily before grabbing Misty and they started dancing in a crowd "How did he know?" I asked Drew "Ash was born and raised here until moving to the capital" Drew said with a slightly saddened look before putting his hood up "What's wrong?" I asked before noticing a bunch of people kept staring at him "My hair attracts a lot of attention" he said simply before we both noticed Chase was missing.

"Where did he run off too this time?" Drew asked a little annoyed.

We both looked around for a while before I noticed they had a pie eating contest "I know where he went" I said before grabbing Drew's wrist and hobbling over to the stage "And the winner with fifty-seven pies is Pierce Lowan!" the announcer called while holding up Chase's berry covered hands.

As the crowd cheered for him Drew and I simultaneously face palmed.

After Chase was awarded a prize he saw us in the crowd "Hey May, what do you think?" he asked showing off the sack of gold coins he won "Who's Pierce Lowan?" I asked suspiciously "It's one of the fake names I use to get around easier" he said proudly "How many names do you have?" Drew asked sceptically "Quite a few" he simply said before spotting something else "Hold it" I said grabbing his shoulder "What's wrong?" he asked.

I sighed and said "We aren't supposed to be bringing attention to ourselves" before Chase pouted "Tell that to those two" he said pointing to where he was going to run to.

Both Drew and I looked to where he was pointing and saw that in the middle of the town square, Ash and Misty were dancing like there was no tomorrow "Seriously?" Drew asked annoyed as we walked over to the crowd that were clapping their hands in time with the music.

When they finished dancing they ran over to us "Come on May it's a festival you should try have some fun" Ash said.

I looked around unsure of what to do "You have been to a festival before right?" Misty asked worried.

I looked at her and said "Oh… umm… of course I have… just the first time in a strange town I guess" with a nervous laugh.

Truth is that I really haven't actually been to a festival before, as a slave I was used as an attraction instead of a guest and in the orphanage I had to clean the house while to kids went out to the festivities.

As the day went on we all agreed to split up and meet back at the town centre in about two hours.

Ash and Misty ran off together and Chase ran off to an apple bobbing stall, leaving me and Drew standing there alone "So… want to look around?" I asked pointing to a random street.

He looked over to it and back at me "Sure why not?" he said calmly with a shrug as we started walking through the street that was lined with stalls.

There were so many of them, some sold clothes, some sold jewels and jewellery while others sold all different kinds of food, some I haven't seen before, it was amazing.

I looked to my right to see Drew looked rather bored "What's wrong grumpy?" I asked teasingly.

Drew looked down at me surprised "Nothing… guess I'm a little bored" he said simply.

We walked in silence before one of the men at the stall called out to me "Excuse me miss" he said calmly "Yes?" I asked as I walked over to him "This necklace would look great on you" he said obviously trying to sell me some cheap knockoff "Sorry but I don't wear jewellery" I said before turning to Drew.

He was just standing there looking bored… SUROUNDED BY SQUEELING GIRLS!

The girls kept asking him questions like "Are you single?" and saying things like "I'm available" for some reason it made me angry… no not angry… I suppose it might be disappointment… okay I'll be honest I have no idea what I'm feeling right now.

Drew's POV

This always happens… I hate girls who swoon over me… act ditzy… and put out… what is wrong with these chicks?

I looked over t where May was only to see she was walking away "May!" I yelled but just as I was about to run after her the girls grabbed onto me "No don't go" they whined.

I looked back to see May was gone.

I quickly shook the girls off and casually told them to go away before running off in the direction I saw her heading.

Eventually I spotted her, she was sitting in front of one of those games where you have to guess what cup the pebbles under, there rigged so that the player never wins… so why would she play "How much are you putting up for bids?" the man running the game asked "This should do nicely" May said with a mischievous smirk "What? This is a lot of money" he said a little amazed as May handed him a bag of gold coins… wait… that's the same bag Chase won… SHE PINCHED IT?

May just smirked "Yes and by my calculation if I win, I get that and the rest of the money you've won today" she said as the smugness dripped from every word.

The man looked at his winnings then at the bag of coins "Deal" he said before he started the game.

I watched closely as May's eyes seemed to glaze over… wait… she wasn't? She listening for the pebble!

I watched carefully as the man smirked and stopped "Now which one is it?" he asked with a smirk, it was obvious he thought he was going to beat her "This one" May said as she picked up the cup revealing the small grey pebble "What? How?" the man stammered before reluctantly giving up his money.

I held in a laugh as May casually waltz over to me with two bags of coins "That's how you con a con man" she said as she handed me the bag "Have you don't this before?" I asked as we walked back to the town square "I've done that a few times before but that was that first time I actually bet money on it" she said simply.

We kept walking "Wait so what would you have said to Chase if you lost the money?" I asked "Well, he doesn't know I took it, so the plan was to just say that he'd dropped it somewhere" she said with a shrug.

Eventually we met up with the others again and noticed the street lights were starting to come on and the faster music was starting to play "I feel like dancing" Misty said before grabbing May's arm "What are you doing?" May asked frantically "Come on May you've got to know how to dance" Misty replied as she tried to drag May away.

May shook her arm free and looked at Misty "But I only traditional dances… you know like sword dances and dances to bless things" she said a little awkwardly "Weren't you ever just aloud to dance feely?" Ash asked a little sadly "No… but… I guess you could teach me" May said with a shy smile.

Before anyone could say anything else May was dragged away.

Ash, Chase and I just stood there watching them "Aren't you two going to join in?" Chase asked curiously "Oh I'm a little tied from the day so I'm just gonna stay back on this one" Ash said with a wave of his hand "Translation 'I want to watch my beautiful girlfriend from afar' think that's accurate?" I asked with a smirk as Ash glared at me with a slight blush of embarrassment.

I heard some giggling from behind us and turned to see a bunch of girls "Hey Chase those girls over there are checking you out" I said slyly. Chase looked over to them then to the ground "Not interested" he said as his usual happy go lucky attitude dropped and was replaced with a hurt one "Why they look cute?" I asked trying to pry a little.

Chase looked back to them again then back to the ground "I already have... had, someone I loved" he said sadly.

I was about to pry a little bit more before a loud cheer was heard as people began to whistle and clap for one of the dancers.

I looked to my Left to see Ash had disappeared from his previous position and figured it was probably Misty attracting all the attention, it was usually the most common thing in these situations. But to my surprise off to my right was Ash and Misty acting all couplie… then who was dancing?

Curiosity overcame me and I made my way through the crowd and was shocked to see May. I watched in amazement as she gracefully danced in circles, adding in a few cartwheels and jumps in every now and again. As the music sped up so did she, before I knew it she was dancing like a professional and for some reason I couldn't keep my eyes off of her.

Suddenly Chase appeared behind me and yelled out "May giving you a partner!" before shoving me into the empty area.

May looked over to me and danced her way over before grabbing my hands "Bet you can't dance better than me" she said competitively before spinning a few times.

Before I knew it we were both dancing our hearts out, and for the first time in months I was truly having a good time.

R&R :)


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5 – No POV**

After enjoying the festivities Ash lead them through the city "Where are you taking us?" May asked a little nervous.

Drew looked over to May and realised something "Hey why aren't you using your walking stick?" he asked sceptically, only just realising she was both dancing on it with ease but jumping on it too "Oh… I guess I forgot about it… weird that it doesn't hurt… it was this morning… wait… MISTY!" May yelled annoyed "Yes?" she asked cheekily "What did you put in my lunch?" May asked sceptically before Misty looked away "Well… you see… I may have been feeding you an experimental drug I've been working on that's supposed to speed up our healing abilities" she said quickly before turning around and walking to follow Ash "Experimenting? Misty!" May yelled angrily as she walked after her "Oh come on May it worked so you shouldn't get mad" Misty tried to reason "Yea and what if it killed me?" May asked angrily.

Misty just stared at her before looking away "Huh… hadn't thought of that… oops?" she said awkwardly.

Before they had a chance to argue any further Ash stopped and turned to them "Okay we're here" he said happily.

May, Misty and Chase looked at the house in shock… it was a mansion "Ash what are we doing here?" May asked "This is Ash's family home" Drew said casually walking past Ash and through the front gates.

Misty looked at Ash "So your rich?" she asked a little sad he'd never mentioned it before. Ash waited for May and Chase to follow before speaking with Misty.

"So… is that why you were sent to the capital to be the princes friend… because of your family's nobility?" Misty asked as Ash looked away "Yea… but they don't know that I'm a Desolate… if they knew then they wouldn't hesitate to give me to the Desolate traders" Ash said sadly "Oh come on you don't know if that will really happen" Misty said trying to comfort him "But I do know" Ash said getting a little angry "How? Do you have any proof?" Misty asked trying to reason with him "Yes I do!" Ash yelled back.

Misty was about to ask what it was but they were interrupted "Come on you two it's getting late" Drew said putting a hand on Ash's shoulder. Ash looked down at Drew's hand then back at Misty "Yea… I'm sure they missed me" he said sadly before walking off to the house.

The five teens waited at the door before Ash finally knocked.

*THUMP* *THUMP* *THUMP*

They waited for a few seconds before the large doors opened "Oh my Lord Ash! Lady Delia your son has come for a visit!" a maid yelled almost as soon as she opened the door.

The five teens were welcomes in and were guided to a sitting area.

A middle aged woman with red hair walked in wearing formal attire "Ash is that really you?" she asked sweetly before hugging him "Hello mother" Ash greeted kindly as he hugged back.

She let go when she noticed the extra four people in the room "And who are these four?" she asked kindly. Ash mouthed 'No Desolate Talk' before introducing everyone "This is May… a traveling dancer, this is Chase the son of a merchant, Drew… a traveling musician… and this is Misty… my girlfriend" he said before turning back to his mother with a smile.

Delia smiled happily and walked up to Misty "OH my you sure are cute" she said as she examined Misty with her eyes "So… how long have you two been dating?" she asked with a slight mischievous tone.

Ash and Misty shared a look before Misty said "A little over a month milady" in a polite tone.

Delia looked the other three over before clicking her fingers "Well you all must be tired from your journey; I will have the maids prepare some rooms for you" she said before walking out of the room.

May looked sceptically as Ash "Traveling dancer?" she asked as he smiled awkwardly "Yea sorry about that… my mum is sweet now, but if she were to find out about us her personality will go from sweet to cruel and dark" he said sadly "Ash tell us why" Misty said knowing that he now had to tell them "Well… I have an older brother named Aaron… he was a Tiger Desolate… mother found out and he was forcefully taken from the house" Ash said sadly as he avoided looking at his friends.

Nobody said a thing, on one hand they were all in danger from this woman but on the other hand this was Ash's mother.

"Ash dear the maids have drawn baths for each of you" Delia said walking back into the room and noticing the awkward atmosphere "Oh my… did I interrupt something?" she asked worried.

Ash walked off to his room without a word leaving the other four not knowing what to do.

The silence between them grew more awkward by the second so "Miss Delia would your maids be so kind as to guide us to our rooms?" May asked with a slight curtsey even though she wasn't wearing a skirt.

Delia, a little shocked at her manors, smiled and waved a hand to the maids "Yes of course, there will be a change of clothes provided too, I do hope you will join me for dinner" she said hopefully "We would be honoured to" May replied for the group before they were all lead upstairs "How did you do that?" Misty asked "Do what?" May asked confused "Act like a noble" Drew said sceptically "Well… I've always been good at acting… I guess the house kind of just set it up for me" May said trying to get them to drop the subject "If you say so" Misty commented before she walked into her room, but not before glancing sadly at Ash's room.

 **May's POV**

After a nice relaxing bath, I got a good look at the dress Delia had laid out for me… in a word… plain… it was made out of good material and could easily be confused for a peasant's dress if it weren't for the fact that it was royal blue.

After I got changed two maids came in and did my hair for some reason.

After they left I just stared at myself in the mirror "It's been years since I looked like this" I mumbled remembering back to before I was discovered as a Desolate.

I walked downstairs and was guided to the dining room, welcomed by the beautiful aroma of cooked beef.

I remembered all the things I was taught in the past and sat at the table, next to Drew… who was staring at me. I smirked and looked at his while keeping my head forwards "What's wrong Grasshead?" I teased as he blushed for a second before looking away and began eating his food.

I looked down at the silverware 'Just as I thought… it's set up in the nobility way' I thought annoyed before I noticed something, Drew was using the correct cutlery 'It could just be a coincidence' I thought before really thinking about it 'I know close to nothing about him… for all I know he could be royalty… unless… nah… impossible… this guy's way too uncouth to be a prince' I thought before I watched Delia walk into the room.

She sat at the head of the table "My you look beautiful May" she said with a happy smile "Thankyou milady, I must ask however, what has happened to the others?" I asked trying not to vomit at the polite attitude I was putting on "Well dear, your friend Chase is actually in the kitchen helping with desert… Misty is still getting ready and… my son… well he seems to be kept up, so I guess it's just the three of us" she said with a smile.

We ate in silence before Delia started talking again "Young man your name is Drew yes?" "Why do you ask?" Drew asked bringing my attention to their conversation "Well I can't put my finger on it but I feel like I've seen you before" she said curiously as I made sure to concentrate on Drew's answer "Well milady, I've known Ash for years so maybe you recognise me from when we were kids" Drew said calmly but Delia didn't seem convinced "Yes… that must be it" she said before wiping her mouth and standing up "I'm feeling a little under the weather right now so I guess I'll see you both in the morning" she said before leaving the room.

"Is it just me or was that awkward?" I whispered "No it's not just you" Drew answered as we watched her say something to one of the butlers.

 **Misty's POV**

Right after I took a bath I headed for Ash's room… or at least that's what the maids said.

I knocked on the door and heard a muffled 'come in'.

I opened the door to see Ash standing on the balcony staring down at the town "Ash?" I asked as I walked in, closing the door behind me.

When he didn't answer me I got a little worried "Ash? If there's something wrong, you know you can tell me… right?" I asked as I carefully walked over to him "I thought I could do it" he said as I stood at the balcony's entrance.

He turned to me "I thought she might have changed… but I was just being a hopeful little kid" Ash said sadly "What do you mean?" I asked as I placed a hand on his arm "Walking through these halls… what paintings do you see?" he asked me "Well a lot of pictures of you and your mother, and a man I can guess is your father" I said as I tried my hardest to remember as many paintings as I could "And not a single one of Aaron… what if she does that to me?" he asked worried "Ash you're her son" I said trying to calm him down "That won't stop her… Aaron was twelve when he was taken, imagine me… the brother I looked up to… the one who helped me hide my Desolate power… ripped away when I was just eight years old… it's been ten years but the scars will never heal" Ash said as I could see tears beginning to fall "Hey… for all we know she regrets it" I tried but part of me knew I was full of crap.

Ash suddenly hugged me and rested his head in the nook of my neck "I'm not crying" he commented but I could feel the tears against my skin "Yea… you're right" I said as I held him close as he clung to me.

This chapter was to focus mainly on Ash and Misty, while also giving a few hints to May and Drew's pasts. I hope you liked it and please R&R :)


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6 – May's POV**

After that rather strange dinner both Drew and I left to our rooms and agreed to speak with Ash in the morning.

I however didn't have that luxury.

My eye's snapped open as a hand suddenly covered my mouth "Quiet! I won't hurt you" a female voice whispered before taking her hand off of me.

I sat up and turned my lamp on. Standing next to the bed was a young girl, well not young, she was probably only a year older than me, she had long brown hair and grey eyes.

"Who are you?" I asked "And how did you get in here?" I added before she made a shushing motion "Keep your voice down, the maids are on high alert" she said spiking my curiosity as she shut the curtains "You didn't answer my questions" I said blankly.

She turned back to me and was about to say something but suddenly transformed, not just a few limbs too, a full body transformation like Drew, but she was a mouse… a little anticlimactic in my opinion.

A soft knock was at my door before one of the maids came in "Miss I thought I heard voices… is everything okay?" she asked sweetly… for some reason though it felt like there was something else in her tone, it was so slight though that I couldn't pick up on it "Yea... umm" I said as I glanced in the direction the mouse girl was in "I was just rehearsing lines for a play I'm participating in in the next town over" I lied hoping she would by it "Well it's awfully late for such a thing" the maid said curiously "I find it easier to sleep after calming my nerves… even though I dance in front of others I get stage fright when it comes to acting" I continued with my lie hoping she would just leave.

For the next few seconds we just stared at each other before she smiled and looked away "Well I hope you get some rest, your too pretty to lose sleep" she said but it felt a little bit like an insult due to the spiteful tone she was giving me.

After her steps were a satisfactory distance away I looked in the general direction the mouse girl went in "She's gone" I said before the girl morphed back to human form "Thanks for that, really" she said before walking over and sitting on the end of the bed "So do you wanna tell me what you're doing here?" I asked "I've come to warn you" she said seriously "Why am I on danger?" I asked but I had a feeling it had something to do with Ash's mother.

"The woman who owns this house is a Desolate trader" she said with a serious look but slight fear in her eyes "How do I know if that's true?" I asked curiously "Because what she does is lure in Desolate with warm beds and great food… a day or two later she sells them" she said dead serious.

I looked away and thought about it, Ash even told us to look out for his mother, and she even gave away her own son when she found out he was a Desolate "Okay that may be… but why would I be in danger? I came here with her son" I said as she looked at me sadly "Did the maids randomly come in when you were having a bath?" she asked me causing me to blush.

It was true, not long after I had gotten in they came in saying they were giving me a towel even though I already had one then left, I don't know what they did because my back was turned to them.

The girl sighed sadly "They were looking for a Desolate mark" she said, confusing me "My what?" I asked before getting an 'are you an idiot?' look "What?" I asked.

She stood up before she turned her back to me and lifted her shirt to show the bottom half of her back.

Trailing up her back then to the right was a strange light pink tattoo that resembled a tail.

She fixed her shirt before sitting back down "All Desolate have them, the fact you don't know means yours is somewhere you normally can't see it… when the maids came in did you face away from them?" she asked before I nodded "Your mark must be on your back… do you mind if I check?" she asked "Of course I do!" I said a little too loudly before slapping my hand over my mouth.

We both sat in silence waiting to see if any of the maids were coming this way.

When we heard nothing we continued our conversation "C'mon let me see" she whined "No way, your acting creepy" I said frantically.

Sadly, after about twenty more minutes of her asking and me refusing I finally said yes "Anything?" I asked "Hell yea, and I'll admit, yours is much cooler than mine" she said before grabbing a mirror from the nightstand and snapping it in half before positioning the pieces so I could see my back.

There, as plain as day, were two jet black bat wings stretching across my back "I'm a little surprised you've never seen it before" the girl commented as I was also shocked "Well I guess checking my back isn't really an everyday thing" I said with a slight chuckle as I pulled my shirt back down.

"So if the maids saw this then they definitely would have told Delia… but how do you know so much about this?" I asked before noticing the sad expression she was wearing "I arrived here a few years back with my friends and because I was the only one who could do a full takeover I was the only one to escape… I was the youngest in the group so everyone felt a need to help me escape… needless to say, I haven't seen them since" she said sadly.

My eyes suddenly widened "Do you think my friends were found out?" I asked frantically before she smiled at me "Don't worry they managed to hide their marks, so far you're the only one in danger… so keep on your guard and stick close to your friends" she said before standing up and walking to the window "I've got to go… the guard shift is changing over soon and it's the best time to leave" she said with a smile "Wait what's your name?" I asked "My name's Leaf… I believe your friend Chase knows me" she said happily before jumping out the window.

 **Ash's POV**

We all woke up early and met out in the garden where I knew the guards didn't go "We've got a problem" May said as we all looked at her "What?" Drew asked "Last night someone visited me" she said simply as I noticed Drew's eyes widen for only a second before going back to normal "Who was it?" I asked hoping it wasn't my mother "Her name was Leaf, she warned me that one of the maids saw my Desolate mark… she says that I'm the only one they know of but it's only a matter of time" she said seriously "Leaf?" Chase asked grabbing May's shoulders "Y-yes… how do you know her?" May asked a little socked at Chases sudden interest.

Chase sighed and let May go before looking down "She's my older sister" he said shocking May "You have an older sister? But I thought you were an only child?" May asked confused "Leaf and I ran from home… our parents abused us daily so we both ran… after the Desolate reports came out saying they were looking for a brother and sister she dropped me off with an old couple who I treated as parents… I thought she was dead" he said with a slight smile of relief "Well from the sound of it she's alive and has a much better understanding of our situation" Misty said before glancing at me.

I stood up and tried to calm myself "I'll need to confront my mother about this" I said but was quickly stopped "No you won't" Drew said calmly "What do you mean? She plans to sell May" I said a little annoyed at his nonchalant attitude "How do we know this girl was telling the truth?" he asked suspiciously "Are you calling my sister a liar?" Chase asked angrily "Woah calm down there, for all we know this is some chick pretending to be Chase's sister and is messing with us" Drew said.

Silence fell over us before I scoffed "Well I'm not chancing it, May, stick with me for the time we're here" Misty said seriously as she slung an arm around May's shoulders "Really? You'd do that for me?" May asked unbelieving "You bet, what are friends for? Besides if something happens I was trained by royal guars in hand to hand combat… granted I had to dress like a guy to do it" Misty said mumbling the last part as I remembered how she use to borrow some of my clothes before going to the training grounds.

We all walked back to the house and were welcomed by mother "Oh there you all are, I was thinking about taking the girls shopping, you know, get to know my son's girlfriend and have a little girl time" she said smiling happily.

I looked back to May and Misty and saw they nodded to her "We would be honoured milady" May said as she and Misty curtseyed.

I really hope they know what their getting themselves into.

 **Misty's POV**

"What the hell were you two thinking?" Drew yelled at us "What? We shouldn't be acting suspicious" I said calmly "And besides wasn't it you less than ten minutes ago saying that it could be nothing?" May asked smugly but only got an angry grumble from Drew in respond.

We had gone up to Ash's room saying we were getting something.

"Even if it is nothing this woman still sold her own son to Desolate traders" Drew hissed "No offence Ash" he added "None taken" Ash replied just watching the event taking place.

Both May and I pushed past him and left the room leaving an ignored Drew behind.

We met Delia out the front of the house and got into a carriage she had prepared.

"Wow… this seems a little flashy to just go shopping milady" I commented as Delia giggled a little "It's perfect for the part of town we are headed for" she said happily as the carriage took off.

The first shop we arrived at was a fancy dress shop.

With absolutely no say in it we were both forced into tight but beautiful dresses.

Mine was a white and blue dress with long sleeves and the top half of my back was exposed while the entire front was covered.

May's was a blood red and black dress with a full back and front with no sleeves.

Both dressed complimented our figures and after Delia saw us in them she bought both almost immediately "Please milady you don't have to do this" May said worried she was apposing "Oh drop the milady thing dear just call me Delia" she said with a smile as she handed over the money.

After that she bought us matching jewellery and hair ornaments before dragging us to a few bakeries to try some deserts.

By the time we finished all of that we were sitting out the front of a café drinking coffee "Today was wonderful Delia… it really took away a lot of stress to just have fun" I said as I relaxed into my chair "I'm glad you think so dear… what about you May? Is there a particular reason you didn't want me to buy you a new set of earrings?" Delia asked as I only just noticed that May wore earrings.

They were just studs but they looked expensive "Oh… well these are the last thing my parents ever gave to me… I guess keeping them on is my way of keeping them close to me" she said with a smile as she gazed down at her coffee.

"Okay mum why are we here?" Ash asked coming out of nowhere with Drew and Chase next to him "Ah just in time boys" Delia said before two maids came up to me and May and brought us over to the café's back room.

By the time they were finished with us we were dressed in the things we had bought today and they did our hair too.

We both walked out a little embarrassed "Why are we doing this?" May asked as an embarrassed blush spread over her cheeks as we walked outside.

We were met with the intense stares of Ash and Drew as their jaws hung loose before Chase smiled and whistled at us "Looking good girls" he said before shoving Drew and Ash towards us "What the hell?" Drew asked before we looked to see Chase, the maids and Delia all smiling cheekily together "You planned this didn't you?" I asked a little annoyed "What on earth are you talking about? We just happened to bump into the boys and now you can show off your new dresses" the maids said cheekily.

Before we knew it we were being pushed into separate carriages, me with Ash and May with Drew, I don't know what's happening but part of me is actually liking it… judging by the zero eye contact of May and Drew it was an entirely different story for them.

New chapter! Yay! Hope you like it so far :) R&R

P.S. now that I'm on holidays the update scedual will be a little bit closer together depending on when my holiday writers block sets in.


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7 – Drew's POV**

I can't believe this, this morning we were untrusting of this woman and now she's forcing me to go on a date with May… AND WHY DID DHE HAVE TO LOOK SO GOOD?!

"Drew?" May asked clicking in front of my face "What?" I asked a little moody "You haven't said anything" she said a little worried.

I blushed a little and looked away "Well what do you expect me to do when you look like that" I said before realising what I actually said. I looked to May and saw her blushing a little while her eyes were blank "May?" I asked a little worried before she pointed to the other seat of the carriage.

I looked to what she was pointing at and saw a small mouse "How'd that get in here?" I mumbled before it said "Easy I latched onto the hem of May's skirt" shocking me "May did that mouse just talk?" I asked but May wasn't fazed at all.

I looked back to the mouse and was shocked to see that in its place was a young beautiful brunette with her legs crossed and a smirk on her face.

"Leaf? What are you doing here?" May asked not shocked at all. I on the other hand was shocked, I only knew one other person who could do a full body transformation… but this girl was amazing, when I transform into a wolf my body size itself doesn't change all that much, this girl however transformed from a human into a tiny mouse.

She looked at May before whispering "Is he also a desolate?" giving me a sceptical look "Yea he is its okay" May replied on my behalf.

Leaf looked May up and down "Let me guess she took you on a magical day out, got you a new dress, and took you jewellery shopping then to a few cafés?" she asked as May's eyes widened "Yea… don't tell me she was faking it" May said as I could tell that Delia might have gotten to her "She did the same to me… but the fact she's doing it so early… it must mean that the Desolate traders are closer than before" she said as she began to run plans in her head.

I turned to May expecting to see a shocked face at the least… but she was purely terrified "May are you alright?" I asked putting a hand on her shoulder.

As soon as I touched her, her head snapped straight to me "We have to leave... now!" she yelled as I could see the fear in her eyes.

I looked back to Leaf "Our friends… their also Desolate… can you tell them something for me?" I asked as she tilted her head curiously "Sure… depends what it is though" she said simply "Tell them to pack their bags… we're leaving tonight, meet in Ash's room" I said before she nodded and transformed back into a mouse and jumping out of the moving carriage.

It was well past midnight, maybe closer to 1AM. I had packed my bags, although it wasn't much, and snuck my way out into the hallway and into Ash's room.

I was expecting to see them a little worried but I was welcomed with terror.

Ash, Misty and May were standing in the centre of the room with worried and scared expressions, and Leaf cowering in the corner in her mouse form.

"Hey what happened?" I asked quietly as I closed the door. May looked over to me "It's Chase" she said as she began to shake, I knew her and Chase weren't friends for very long but they were obviously close, so she was obviously worried "What about you Leaf?" I asked as Leaf looked up at me from the ground.

Her eyes squinted before looking away and curling her tail around her slightly "I came back here to tell him what was going on and managed to tell him... but then… I'm sorry" Leaf said as she put her paws over her eyes and curled up even more "Leaf it's not your fault" Ash said calmly but I could tell that he was pushing his anger down.

Silence fell over us for a few moments before I decided to end it "What happened Leaf?" I asked walking over to her "It wasn't my fault" she whined as she stayed in her ball "Leaf we don't blame you" May said wiping her eyes and putting on a brave face "Please don't hate me" Leaf said looking up at us, May specifically.

May smiled down at her "I promise I won't" she reassured before Leaf transformed back to her human form.

She sat in the corner and stared down at her hands "I snuck into his room after he got back here and told him what you told me to say… I had just turned back into my mouse form and was about to leave when the door opened" she said before looking up at us "Delia walked in… she asked him if he knew what a Desolate was… he said yes and she started asking him all these different questions… before I knew it several different butlers rushed in and forced Chase to the ground… they held something over his mouth… they dragged him out of the room" she said as tears spilled from her eyes "I just hid and watched… I could have helped him but I didn't" she said through the tears.

May rushed past me and quickly hugged Leaf "You were scared… nobody blames you for what happened" May said as Leaf clung to her.

While the others took her words as a way to comfort Leaf I couldn't help but feel like she was saying it to herself.

I sighed and looked back to Ash and Misty "What now? We can't leave now" I said as Ash and Misty both began to ponder about our situation "We're going to pretend nothing happened" May said almost emotionlessly "What?" Misty asked like she was insane "As far as any of the staff know, we all got home from our dinners and went straight to our own rooms… let's just sit on this long enough until we find out what happened to Chase, when we do that we'll leave" May said in a demanding tone.

Misty was about to speak up but we were all interrupted by a knock on the door "Ash… Sweetie are you okay?" Delia said as we all began to freak out a little bit "Quick the window" Ash whispered opening up the window facing the backyard.

May quickly told Leaf to transform before picking her up and climbing out the window and shimmying across the ledge to her own room. I quickly followed close behind and continued further to my own room.

 **Ash's POV**

I looked to Misty and was about to help her out onto the ledge when mum opened the door "I thought I heard someone talking in here… what's going on here?" she asked pointing to Misty and I who were standing in front of the open window holding hands "Umm" I said, totally stumped for words.

I looked to Misty with pleading eyes before she looked at mum and smiled "I was showing Ash a few constellations" she said happily "Really now? I got him a tutor for that when he was little and he kept falling asleep, blaming it on the fact that it was night… but it's past one in the morning" she said sceptically "Well whatever the reason he likes listening to me blabber about random things like this" Misty said, she wasn't actually lying, I always love hearing about the things she knows, I would have been taught them as a kid but paid no attention… but when she speaks I can't help but listen.

Mum smiled and looked at me and said "Where was she ten years ago?" in a joking way.

Part of me wanted to keep this happy atmosphere but part of my brain was screaming at me to confront her… but I knew for the sake of my friends it was safer to keep quiet, as hard as that will be.

 **May's POV**

I reached my room safely and set Leaf down on the lounge in the corner of my room "Stay here tonight, you need your rest" I said as she mumbled a small yes before curling up on the cushion.

Several hours passed and I wasn't sleeping a wink, I was too worried about Chase, I've already lost everything… I can't lose Chase too… he's the only connection to my temporarily peaceful life I had back in town with the orphans and Lady Parrington.

Before I knew it the sun was rising "Damn it" I mumbled before going to take a bath.

I got dressed and walked downstairs to see Ash was already downstairs eating breakfast with Misty at his side… and Delia at the head of the table.

My feet scuffed a bit of the marble floor and my presence was noticed "Ah May, just in time for breakfast, today its crumpets and scrambled eggs" Delia said with a kind smile.

For a split second I wanted to tackle her then and there and demand she tell me where Chase was, but I kept my cool and smiled back before sitting down.

It wasn't long later when Drew sat next to me looking worn out "Why are you so out of breath?" I asked curiously "Just went for a morning run is all" he said casually before he began to eat.

We continued to eat and nobody was asking what we all wanted to know "Hey have you guys seen Chase? He wasn't in his room" Drew said as if reading my mind. I noticed Delia's kind expression slip for a split second before looking up at me kindly "Whatever do you mean dear?" she asked with a sickeningly sweet tone "He has a point; I haven't seen him since yesterday" Misty commented with Ash nodding his head.

Using my sonar hearing I could hear Delia's heartrate sped up a bit "Don't worry guys, he has a habit of wondering of for days at a time" I said casually as the others played along "And how would you know that dear? I thought he was a merchant's son… aren't you a dancer?" Delia asked a little rudely, making it a little obvious that her act was slipping a little "Oh, Chase's father was my troupes funder, I grew up with Chase" I said lying fluently "I'm sorry I just assumed it was Drew that knew him the best" Delia commented, she had a point… since getting here they've been a lot friendlier towards each other "I've only known Chase for a short time miss, you see not long after the two of them split up with their troupe I met them and not long later we met Ash and Misty" Drew said casually as he ate his food.

Not long later Delia excused herself from the table, saying she had some business to attend to, leaving the four teens at the table "When did you get so good at lying?" Misty asked me "Yea, for a minute even I believed you" Ash said impressed with me "When you grow up the way I did you need to learn how to lie" I said remembering back to when I would help the Desolate traders lure in other Desolate by making me go to suspected houses and pretending I was running and needed a place to stay.

Drew was staring at me but I somehow ignored it.

I grabbed some food and went up to my room unnoticed "Leaf, I brought you some breakfast" I said as I closed the door to my room and set the small plate down.

After not getting a response I got a little worried "Leaf?" I asked again as I looked around a bit more "Looking for this?" I heard a familiar voice say.

I quickly turned around and saw Delia standing at the entrance to the walk in robe holding a mouse by its tail "Leaf!" I yelled running up to Delia and quickly took her from the older woman's grasp "So it's yours?" she asked, her cheerful persona completely disappeared "Yes she's my pet" I said quickly "Well put it in a cage I don't need rats running around my house" she said spitefully "It's a mouse genius" I said clearly as her eyes widened "I knew you had some sass… but to think a lowly dancer girl would say such a thing to a lady" Delia said defensively "Really because all I see is a self-rictus bitch who flaunts her power and wealth to all who she deems below her" I said with an angry glare.

She kept eye contact with me for a few seconds before looking away "Whatever, just put that thing in a cage before it gets faeces everywhere" she said before storming out of the room.

I quickly lied Leaf down on the bed and she quickly morphed back into a human "Leaf are you okay?" I asked worried as she just laid there asleep.

Sorry for not updating for a while '-_-

Anyway R&R and I hope you're liking the series so far :)


	9. Chapter 8

_Sorry for the long wait, Been SUPER busy with stuff lately and havent had much time to write anything (It's been hell-_-)_

 _To all those readers who like Delia, I'm sorry for making her the bad guy. I needed a temporary villain and the writer in me was going nuts… next thing I knew she was evil and I liked it so I stuck with it. Personally I like Delia from the original series but as I said I needed a villain and she fit the part._

 **Chapter 8 – No POV**

"She did what?" Drew yelled.

After making sure Leaf was alright, May took Drew out to the garden and told him what happened, why she would tell him, she didn't know, but all she needed to know was now that Chase was gone, Drew was the only one she could confide in.

Drew was understandably pissed "I can't believe that woman" he snarled through clenched teeth "What was she even doing in your room in the first place?" he asked as he started pacing back and forth.

May sighed, she knew Drew wanted answers but she couldn't give them. She was shocked that Delia would so openly show that side of her.

"Hey what are you two doing here?" Misty asked mischievously as she and Ash walked out from behind a bush.

Their expressions quickly turned confused when they saw the angry look on Drew's face "What's wrong?" Ash asked.

May explained everything she said to Drew earlier "Oh my god… is she okay?" Misty asked worried "She hasn't woken up yet… I'm getting really worried" May said sadly.

They stood in silence, Ash feeling horrible for taking them here "Wait! Misty!" Ash yelled as he grabbed her hand "What?" she asked confused "Your medicines… there's got to be one that can help Leaf" he said as May looked over to the two of them.

Misty thought about it for a minute "There might be something I can do" she mused to herself.

May quickly grabbed Misty's wrist and pulled her towards the house.

As Misty ran off to her room May ran off and picked up Leaf "What are you doing?" Drew asked running into the room "We can't keep her in here" May said seriously "Fine take her to my room" Drew said before checking for any workers "Anyone?" May asked "No" Drew said a little confused.

May quickly ran into Drew's room and laid Leaf on the bed "Where is everyone?" Misty asked as she rushed in with her pack "Mum left not long ago to some sort of meeting" Ash said with a scowl "You don't think it could have something to do with Chase do you?" May asked worried as her hands began to shake. Ash looked away "I wish I could say it wasn't" he said with a guilty face.

Misty looked through her pack and took out some herbs and began mashing them into a paste before mixing it with water and milk, turning it into a murky grey liquid "What's that?" May asked as she held her nose, the liquid was giving off a rather foul smell "She uses that to wake Ash up whenever we can't wake him up normally" Drew said as he took one last look outside before locking the door.

Misty had May hold up Leafs head as she poured a very small amount into Leafs mouth "Ah mother of god what the hell!" Leaf yelled as she hunched forward clutching her throat "Drink this" Misty said holding the rest of the milk in a small bottle.

Leaf quickly sculled it and let out a breath of relief "What happened?" she asked as Misty bottled the rest of the potion "My mother drugged you" Ash said looking down "Oh yea" Leaf mumbled.

Suddenly Leaf look right at May "You need to leave" she said seriously "What? Why?" Drew asked "Before Delia drugged me I overheard something… she brought Chase to the slave market today… and there's a guy looking for a bat Desolate with brown hair and blue eyes and he's offering a huge sum of money to whoever can deliver them… as far as I know you're the only bat Desolate in existence" Leaf said sadly as the other three looked at May "Why is he looking for you?" Ash asked as they all looked at her curiously.

May sighed before pulling up her shirt.

Everyone but Leaf gasped.

Covering majority of May's stomach and back were dozens of scars and burn marks.

"May… what happened to you?" Misty asked as she shakily touched the scars "When I was little I was captured by a Desolate Trader named Giovanni… I wasn't something to be sold but rather something to own" May said shakily as she avoided Drew's shocked gaze "He did this?" Ash asked as he pulled May's shirt down "No… this was done by several of his jealous workers who despised me because I was his favourite and treated me like a princess… the night this happened was when I was left in the woods… some merchants found me and took me to a doctor and was then sent to an orphanage" she said shakily as the memories came back.

Before anyone knew what happened, Drew speed across the room and hugged May "Drew? What are you doing?" May asked as her face started turning red "We're going to get Chase back" he said reassuringly before letting go and looking at Leaf "Do you know where the Desolate Market was?" he asked as Leaf looked up, trying her hardest to remember what happened before she passed out "I think it was the east side harbour" she said a little unsure "Are you sure that's correct?" Misty asked hoping Leaf wasn't pushing herself.

Leaf was quiet for a minute before nodding "Positive" she said before standing up and throwing Drew's bag at Drew "What's this for?" he asked confused "Pack your things, we're getting your friend… then I'm taking you to a safe place" Leaf said seriously.

A knock was heard at the door and Leaf quickly reverted to a mouse and May put her on her shoulder "Come in" Drew said as the door opened "Drew I was wondering if you knew where Ash was" Delia said kindly before noticing three others with Drew.

Her eyes glanced at May and Leaf before setting on Ash "Ash, since it's your birthday soon I was thinking we should go out to dinner, just the two of us" Delia said kindly as she seemed to ignore everyone else in the room.

Ash looked back and got reassuring smiles from his friends "Sure mum" he said before she smiled at him "Great, we'll be leaving at sunset, so until then enjoy time with your friends" she said before closing the door.

Ash look directly at Leaf "What time do you think the slave ship would leave?" he asked as Leaf thought about it "Well I think they mentioned something about leaving an hour after sunset… so if we're leaving as well as rescuing him while not alerting your mum we might have to do this without you Ash" Leaf said as she began to think up strategies.

Everyone went quiet as they began to think about it "I have an idea" May said as everyone looked at her.

Ash looked at the suit he was wearing, he always hated dressing formally, it was stiff and uncomfortable.

A knock came from my door and Misty walked in "Look at you all fancy" Misty teased as Ash looked away embarrassed "Misty just this once could you please not?" Ash asked.

Misty recognised almost immediately that there was some hurt in his words "Ash… I've known you long enough to I know when you're hurting" she said as she put a hand on his shoulder "Misty this is all my fault" he said with his eyes down "What? How could you have known it would turn out like this?" Misty asked, trying to comfort him "But I could have! I should have known she wouldn't change… I should've known" he said as Misty was at a loss for words, Ash was usually calm and collected… slightly juvenile, so seeing this side of him was a bit of a shock.

Misty hugged him, she had no idea what else to do "Misty?" Ash asked confused as Misty wasn't usually so forward "None of us blame you, if anything it's good you brought us here, if we didn't we would have never met Leaf" she said but Ash just froze up "But we lost someone, Misty we've seen what slave traders do to desolates" he said as he shoved her away "I don't care that we met Leaf, I don't care that I got to spend time here and I definitely regret ever coming here, without me Chase would be okay" Ash added before realising Misty's expression. Tears were streaming down her face and she was flinching away from him "Misty" he started but she ran out of the room before he could finish.

Not long later, Delia came in "Oh my you look so handsome" she chimed as she hugged him "Thank you mother" he said with a sad tone "Sweetheart? What's wrong?" she asked as she looked him in the eye.

Ash looked away, Delia had an uncanny ability to tell you exactly what you're thinking just by looking into your eyes "Misty and I had a fight… she's worried about Chase, we haven't seen him in over a day… we're all worried" he said sadly as Delia looked at him with a touched expression "It's okay… when we get back I'll send out a search party for him" she said, completely oblivious to the glare he was giving to her back.

May and Drew were sitting in the bushes out front, waiting for Delia to leave and for Misty and Leaf to give them the signal.

"So princess, how'd you know all of that proper stuff before?" Drew asked in a cheeky tone as he slumped against a stone wall. May sighed "I thought the nickname was gone" she mumbled.

Drew chuckled "Well after seeing you act so lady-like it's a little hard not to call you princess, princess" he teased as she rolled her eyes.

Ash and Delia had gotten into their carriage and rode past them.

"So how do you know?" Drew asked as he was genuinely intrigued.

May sighed and mumbled "We all have pasts that we find hard to forget" before sprinting out of the bushes. Drew followed her closely and watched her back, remembering the scars and permanent bruises.

"Where's Misty?" May asked once they reached Leaf "I don't know, I went to her room and she wasn't there, I found this though" Leaf said as she handed May a note "What's that?" Drew asked as he finally caught up with May.

May read the note and her eyes widened "No, she can't be serious, this isn't part of the plan, she'll get herself hurt" May said frantically as she ran off to the docks "What did it say?" Drew asked as he and Leaf just watched her run.

Leaf looked at him with saddened eyes "Misty went through the Desolate trading documents… they already left" Leaf said sadly. "Yea but why is May running after Misty?" Drew demanded.

Leaf hesitated "Misty's going after the boat… in her desolate form" she said scared.

The second Drew heard this he ran after May; he'd only known her a short time but he could tell that she was going to do something drastic.

Leaf swore under her breath and took out her mouse ears and tail and sprinted after them "What are you doing?" Dre asked as he looked around "It's night, we'll never stop Misty with human speed" Leaf said seriously before taking off even faster.

Drew knew she was right, so he pulled up his hood and his wolf features appeared before running up to May "You'll never catch up princess" he said seriously "I told you not to call me-HEY WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!" she yelled as he picked her up bridal style and ran faster to catch up to Leaf.

When they reached the populated areas they hid their faces and stayed in the shadows, making sure that nobody would recognise them, Drew held May close to his chest, as if, if he were to let her go then she would be taken from him.

They reached the docks and barely caught a glimpse of Misty as she jumped into the water "Misty!" Leaf yelled as she put her mouse ears and tail away and stopped at the edge of the dock.

Misty emerged from the water and turned to them "The ships going to Lorcan, meet us there" she said simply before diving back down and going right for the boat.

The three of them watched in amazement as Misty dove out of the water and grabbed man after man, shoving them into the ocean and using her shark teeth to injure them severally.

In the quarrel, several bird Desolates used this as the chance to escape.

Just when it looked like Misty might stop the boat before it had a chance to go to Lorcan, the captain came on board ant threw a net at her as she came up out of the water, landing on the ships deck, flailing around and hissing at the men and women on board.

"I have to help her!" May yelled as she was about to get her wings out "Stop" Drew hissed as he hugged May, preventing her wings from coming out "Let go! I have to help her!" May yelled as she hit Drew's chest "Look where we are" he whispered as he held her close.

May moved her head and saw dozens of onlookers watching the boat in disgust, some commenting that Desolate are treated unfairly but majority congratulating the crew for stopping Misty.

May had always known what people thought f Desolates and she never let it bother her… until now.

Mays arms went limp before slowly reaching around Drew and hugging him tightly as she shook in what Drew thought was sadness.

In truth it was anger.

Anger directed at the Desolate traders for their disgusting work.

Anger directed at the citizens for not seeing how hard it is to be a Desolate.

Anger and Drew for not letting her go.

Anger for Leaf for just standing there.

And anger towards herself for not running fast enough to stop her.


	10. Chapter 9

I've decided that, since schools back, from now onward I will be updating sporadically, so you might get two or three in one week then none for another two weeks.

I hope you enjoy :)

 **Chapter 9 – No POV**

May just sat there.

She sat there for the whole night, just staring out at the ocean.

She refused dinner and was now refusing breakfast.

"How's she doing?" Drew asked as Leaf walked back with a full tray of food "No better than Ash" Leaf said as she looked at the crates nearby where Ash was sitting, he was silent, unmoving and Drew could tell he was still blaming himself.

After the boat was out of view, Ash showed up. Drew told him what happened and Ash dropped to the ground mumbling "It's my fault" over and over.

It was entirely awkward, for Drew because he didn't know how to comfort his friend and for Leaf because she was the outsider, she knew nobody on a deep level.

Suddenly May stood up and spread her wings proudly "May what the hell are you doing?" Drew asked as he ran over to her "I'm flying to Lorcan" she said with a cold voice, never taking her eyes off the ocean.

"Are you crazy?" he asked her as he grabbed her shoulders "That's too far, you'll die of exhaustion" he scolded bet her stare was blank, her eyes no longer the radiant blue that were brimming with joy, they were now dark and lifeless.

Without waiting any longer May took off "May!" Drew yelled as she just ignored him and kept going.

Ash stood next to Drew and watched May "I wish I could fly" he commented before Drew grabbed Ash's shoulders angrily "Will you snap the fuck out of it!" he screamed "What?" Ash asked confused "I get that your sad about Misty and you blame yourself but if you don't wake the fuck up then they're all going to die, this time it really will be your fault!" Drew yelled before walking over to Leaf.

"You mentioned you have people who can help" he said to Leaf who just nodded vigorously "Take me to them" Drew demanded as he grabbed his bag.

Ash followed close behind the two as they walked into the slums area, eventually stopping at an old hotel that nobody used anymore.

Leaf looked at Drew and Ash before knocking in a short rhythm on the front door.

A moment passed before a short knock originated from the other side, being replied with another knock from Leaf before the door opened to reveal a short girl with dark blue hair and ocean blue eyes "Leaf!" she yelled as she hugged Leaf "Is that Leaf?" a few young voices asked from inside.

They all walked into the building and the doors were closed behind them.

Everyone gathered around Leaf as they welcomed her back, all saying things like 'I'm so glad your back' and 'we were so worried'.

A loud bang was heard as a guy with spikey brown hair dropped an empty crate the second he saw who just arrived.

A smile spread across his face and he ran over to her "Leaf, you had me worried sick, why didn't you contact us?" he asked annoyed before she pulled him into a kiss, all the kids in the group saying "Gross!" and making vomiting noises.

The boy looked to the door and noticed the two new faces "Are these the desolate from the mansion? I thought you said there were more?" he asked kindly but regrated asking once he saw their expressions "What happened?" he asked as he look them onto a different room, so the younger inhabitants wouldn't hear "Gary, Paul needs your help with something" the girl with dark blue hair said just before the door could be closed "It can wait Dawn, this is important" he said calmly before quietly closing the door.

Gary sat down at a desk as Leaf and the boys sat on a couch in front of it.

Drew and Ash explained everything, Leaf feeling she didn't have the right to explain what had happened "Your friend May, how long has it been since she ate anything, or drank water?" Gary asked as he looked at a world map "Lunch yesterday I think" Ash said unsure.

"No… I tried to calm her down last night so before we left we used the kitchen to binge eat and made a giant cookie… she ate most of it" Drew said sadly.

Gary made a humming noise "Well in the state she's in emotionally… plus the nurturance her body has… and the fact she didn't sleep last night… her body will run on adrenalin for the next 18 hours at best… after that she'll be struggling to stay in the air, if she falls she won't have enough energy to swim and she'll drown… and this is all if she isn't caught on her way there" he said calmly "Can you get us there?" Drew asked as Gary looked over at Leaf "I hate to be this guy but… what do I get out of this?" he asked as Drew just glared at him "What?" he asked "I have dozens of desolate and human orphans staying here, I can't just give you our resources, we barely have enough as it is" he said in a sorry tone "And I can't just leave them here, they rely on me" he said, his tone turning serious.

"Your forgetting your grandfather" Leaf stated calmly "He won't be able to even talk to me as far as father is concerned" Gary mumbled "What does he mean?" Ash asked "Gary is the banished son on the Oak family, he isn't a Desolate but he was banished after he helped the blue haired girl, Dawn, hide Paul here, she isn't a Desolate either but helps us out" Leaf said as Gary looked away.

Ash gasped "That's why you look familiar, my mother tried to make us become friends when we were younger to strengthen the relations between our families" Ash said a little surprised.

Gary, who seemed to have already known who he is, gave Ash a 'no shit' look before he opened the door, a girl tumbled into the room "Dawn, what are you doing?" Leaf asked as she was supposed to be making breakfast for the kids "Don't worry I got Brock to take care of it" Dawn said with a wave of the hand before looking at Ash and Drew "I can help you two" she said proudly "How?" Drew asked sceptically.

Dawn smiled cheekily "I'm the only child to the Berlitz family, my father gives me anything I want without question and he and my mother both support Desolate rights" she said proudly "I knew you looked familiar" Drew said with a smile before hugging her "It's good to see you too Drew" Dawn said as she hugged him back "Am I interrupting something?" a gloomy looking boy asked as he seemed to appear behind Dawn.

He had grey/purple hair and black eyes. He had a muscular build despite looking around Dawn's age (15). Just by looking at him you knew he was a Desolate, showing proudly on his right shoulder.

Drew let go of Dawn and held a hand out to the boy "You're Paul aren't you? Dawn wrote about you in her letters" Drew said as Dawn blushed tomato red behind him.

Paul gave Drew a genuine smile and shook his hand "And you must be Drew… making him Ash?" Paul asked as Ash shook Paul's outstretched hand "So you're the Paul we've heard so much about" Ash stated before Dawn turned to Paul "What's up?" she asked, obviously trying to change the topic.

Paul wanted so badly to tease her, but he had more pressing matters to focus on.

"Gary the slave ship that left last night had several kids on board" Paul stated seriously "WHAT!?" Gary practically screamed "And you're only telling me this now!?" he asked angrily.

Paul looked down "It's my fault… I didn't do a head check last night… we're missing four" he said sadly "Who?" Gary asked "Bonnie, Clemont and Iris" Paul said before looking at Drew and Ash "I overheard that the two of you have friends on board that ship… I'll get you a ship if you help save those kids" he said seriously.

Drew and Ash shared a glance before both saying "Yes" with desperate looks but serious voices.

Paul smiled and looked back at Gary "You let me and these two go… and we'll come back with the kids" he said as Gary knew he was right.

Gary had to think about it, other than Leaf, Soledad and Brock, Paul was the oldest Desolate they had, he was also the strongest of the four of them, if they were to lose him then if the Desolate traders were to find them they wouldn't stand a chance.

After some careful thinking he sighed "Fine… but Dawn's going too" he said "Why?" Paul asked, knowing it would be dangerous and he was worried for her safety… but… "What do you mean 'Why?', I have diplomatic trading rights, you need me to get through the check points idiot" Dawn said as she huffed "That's why" Gary said calmly.

Dawn smiled proudly before turning to the three boys and saying "Alright, meet me at the docks in twenty minutes" before running outside "How will she get a ship that can travel across rough seas in twenty minutes?" Ash asked before Leaf laughed "Despite her cheerful demeanour, Dawn can be rather terrifying when she wants to, making it a lot easier to get things" she said before walking upstairs to the kids.

"How did you get that!?" Ash asked as Paul and Drew snickered "I have my ways" Dawn said smugly "I also present fellow Desolate activists, Steven and Brawley the crewmen who will be helping with maintenance, Tracy who will be our captain, and Melody here will be helping to prepare food" she added as four people stepped forwards so the three boys could see them "Hey cousin" Tracy said to Drew who waved back "Hey who's the guy with black hair?" Melody asked but Dawn ignored her "Come on, we have to make it there before the selling can start, plus we still have to watch out for your friend right?" Dawn said as the boys got on board.

It was a beautiful ship, it had accommodations fit for nobles and even the wood it was made from was expensive quality "How did you get this expensive ship in twenty minutes with a chef and captain in tow?" Ash asked as Dawn just gave him a smug look before yelling "Set sail for Lorcan!" before running to the bow of the ship.

Ash looked at Drew "Come on tell me how this is possible" he begged. Drew, who felt sorry for Ash, chuckled and said "Dawn has a very influential family name and her special way of persuasion helps a lot to get what she wants… as I've known her since she was four and I was seven I know exactly what it's like to be on the receiving end" as Ash looked at Dawn a little scared "I'm a little scared to ask about this 'special' persuasion skill" he said but was quickly knocked away from his train of thought when Melody clung to his arm "So what's your name? I'm Melody" she said with a cutesy voice.

Ash looked to Drew to help since Ash wasn't great around flirty girls, however Drew felt like being a little mischievous and said "Sorry Ash I've got to go ask the crewman for a favour" as he walked over to Steven and Brawley "Dick" Ash mumbled before looking back to Melody.

Steven and Brawley looked at Drew and bowed their heads slightly "None of that here guys… I'd rather nobody else know of my family unless it's important" he said as they both nodded "Right, anything we can do for you?" Brawley asked with a grin "This girl, she started flying off to Lorcan this morning and since we all know she won't make it on her own I want you two to look out for her" Drew said as he handed them a sketch of May "Wow this is pretty detailed… when did you have the time to draw this?" Brawley asked with a teasing tone "Not important… can you do it or not?" Drew asked with a light blush across his cheeks "Of course we can, what kind of bird is she?" Steven asked sceptically, as if he knew something and was hiding it "She's not a bird" Drew stated calmly "But then what?" they both asked "She's a bat, her wings are beautiful" Dawn said dreamily "When did you see them?" Drew asked sceptically "I saw her a few nights ago flying around, her wings are pretty big so it shouldn't be hard to spot her" Dawn said before she took the sketch from Steven who was suspecting it "So this is what her face looks like" she mused as she walked off with the picture


	11. Chapter 10

Surprise! Another chapter! I have been on a roll!

 **Chapter 10 – Drew's POV**

"Dinner!" Melody yelled from the kitchen.

Everyone else ran straight to the dining area for food, I on the other hand just stayed up on deck and watched the ocean "Drew come on" Ash said as he walked up behind me "What if I miss her?" I mumbled "Miss her?" Ash asked with a confused tone.

I turned and looked at him as he made an 'oh yea' look before smiling at me "Don't worry, we haven't been sailing for long, it's not like we'll see her anytime soon" he said trying to cheer me up "Eleven" I said blankly "What?" he asked "Eleven hours, that's how long we've been sailing for, Gary said she had eighteen tops and she would have already been flying for an hour before we left" I said as I just stared out at the ocean.

I heard Ash sigh before he stood next to me, leaning against the railing "I've never seen you act like this for a girl" he said as I huffed and looked away "What's your point?" I asked as I looked away further to hide what I could guess was a blush "Just that in all the years I've known you… as far as romance ever went you would give white roses to women who were offered to be your wife" he had a point.

Growing up with my family's status meant a lot of girls were trying to make me fall in love with them, they only ever loved the riches… not me.

Maybe that's why I like May… when she met me I was just a random stranger she met in the woods, she hasn't even tried asking me about my past.

"Hey Ashy-kens, you should try this, it's pudding" Melody said as she suddenly appeared behind us with a small bowl and spoon "Umm, thanks Melody but I'd rather eat my dinner before I eat my desert" Ash said before grabbing my shoulder and wrapping an arm around me "Come on Drew we should go eat" he said as we briskly walked away from Melody "Why don't you just tell her you're not interested?" I asked a little annoyed.

Ash sighed and let me go as we kept walking "I would if I knew how to, growing up the girls were always after you so I just had to watch from the sidelines… and you never did any of the denying yourself, you had either Misty or the maids do it" he said annoyed as we walked into the dining area.

I sighed and pat him on the back "Good luck, just remember how both Melody and Misty will feel when they meet each other" I said as Ash froze "Crap I hadn't thought about that" he mumbled as I went to the chair closest to one of the small windows "Any sign of your girlfriend?" Brawly teased as he sat next to me.

I gave him an annoyed look "If your refusing to May, then no… not yet" I said as my eyes drifted back to the porthole, ignoring Brawly.

Melody happily entered with dinner "Who's ready to chow down?" she asked as she and Steven set everything down.

Everyone sat and conversed, some having people to know while other were catching up, either way it was actually a pleasant meal, but my mind kept drifting back to May, Misty and Chase, more than anything I wanted them all to be safe.

"WAKE UP!" Brawly yelled at the top of his lungs as he rang the bell above deck and stomped so we would all be covered in a thin layer of dust that had collected between the ceiling gaps.

I rolled out of the bed, landing on Ash "Ow what the hell?" he asked as I just laid there "Brawly's yelling… do me a favour and go see what he wants" I said before he hit me with a pillow and standing up.

For a few brief seconds I had complete silence before loud and fast footsteps came towards me and the door burst open "Drew we're at Lorcan!" Ash yelled.

My eyes snapped open "What?" I asked before he dragged me on deck.

There in front of us was the town of Lorcan "Desolate trading central" Paul said angrily as he stood next to us glaring at the harbour town "Paul get back here!" Dawn yelled angrily "No" he said simply before his arms from the elbow down became monstrous black cat arms with razor sharp claws and quickly climbed up the ships mast "So he's a can like you" I teased Ash "Hey I'm a lion, not a cat!" he yelled.

In case you haven't realised it yet, Ash and I tend to tease each other about our Desolate animals, calling me a dog instead of a wolf and me calling him a cat instead of a lion.

"Actually he's a black panther" Dawn said as she walked over to them with two cloaks "What are those for?" Ash asked "Some of us have odd hair colours, so to stop any unwanted attention I want Paul to wear this cloak… however he's complaining because it's covering his Desolate mark" she said sadly "Is he crazy? He needs to cover his mark in this town" I said as I looked up at the brooding teenager "That and we're about to hit a check point, if they see I have a Desolate without chains then he'll be taken, the ship will be burned and we'll be thrown in prison" Dawn said annoyed.

Ash sighed "Let me handle this" he said before he climbed the mast using a similar transformation except his was his legs too.

Dawn handed me one of the cloaks "Since green hair is rare you might want to put this on" she said obviously trying to avoid the real reason for hiding my hair as it was a common genetic trait in my family line to have light green hair while others tend to have dark shades of green.

Dawn was shuffling her feet, dead giveaway she wanted to ask something she would find awkward "What do you want to know?" I asked her "What are you talking about?" she asked acting dumb "Your feet Dawn" I pointed out as she blushed from embarrassment "Well… I was just wondering why you and Ash don't show off your Desolate marks, Paul always does… and he hates hiding it" she said sadly looking up to Paul and Ash up in the crows nest.

I sighed "Paul is proud of his being a Desolate… however after what Ash and I have been through neither of us show them" I said as she looked away "Can you at least tell me where they are?" she asked "Why?" I asked with a raised eyebrow "Well Paul's is claw marks and Leaf's is a tail… I haven't seen you since the month before you became a Desolate… I guess it would just be cool to know" she said as she had a dreamy look in her eyes. I chuckled before humouring her "Ash's is a mark that resembles an amber claw that spreads over his left hand… mine is a dark grey claw over my bellybutton" I said as she was definitely interested "So they resemble what animal you are?" she asked "Yea… Misty's looks like gills on her neck, I don't know about Chase thought" I said as I glanced at Ash "What's wrong?" she asked.

I looked to her surprised that she picked up on it, people usually can't "He was mumbling her name in his sleep… I'm worried that if we don't find them he'll break down completely… he already did once" I said as even I could hear the fear in my tone.

"Alright I'll wear it!" we heard Paul yelled with a red face "He's blushing?" Dawn asked with wide eyes "You've never seen that?" I asked as she just shook her head absentmindedly.

We were about to reach the checkpoint when Steven tapped both mine and Ash's shoulders "Dawn has a role for you two to play" he said as he led us over to a large cage "What are these for?" I asked "Last night you two mentioned that you can take your transformation so far as to turn into a wolf completely" he said looking at me "What about it?" I asked before he suddenly shoved me in "As far as the officers will know you're a grey wolf we are transporting and Ash is your handler… wear this" he said handing Ash a head scarf "Why?" we both asked "When Dawn got this ship she had to put down out names, you two couldn't be added since you're known well when it comes to the law, so you aren't on the ships papers, this is the only way around it without rising any suspicion" he said, leaving us and walking up to Tracy who was steering the ship towards the checkpoint.

I quickly transformed and laid down like how I'd seen wolves and their cubs do.

An officer walked on board "I am Officer Jenny; I'll need to see your documents and tell me what cargo you have on board" she said as she took out a piece of paper with a list of things that aren't allowed in town… it wasn't a very long list.

Dawn stepped forward wearing an expensive dress… when the hell did she get changed?

Officer Jenny looked her up and down "Well come on tell me" she said getting impatient before Dawn gave her the official documents "I'd say these check out" Officer Jenny said before looking at Dawn annoyed "Right, well the only living thig we have is this" Dawn said as she walked towards me mouthing 'act aggressive' before turning to Ash who was pretending to sleep "Oi, handler why doesn't the wolf have food?" she asked, putting on her snooty tone "You didn't give me any food to give it" Ash grumbled back.

Officer Jenny walked over to me and just when she was close enough I snapped at her and began growling "Careful he'll bite your hand off if you aren't careful" Ash said with a smirk, I found out later on he was trying to imitate mine, I'd have to say it was pretty good.

Dawn took the officer below deck and we all waited in silence before they came back up "Looks like everything's clear" Officer Jenny said before bowing to Dawn and getting back onto her ship.

We docked with no problems "Alright so where do we search first?" Dawn asked as she walked next to Ash and I back in her casual clothes again "Okay seriously how are you getting changed so fast?" I asked. Dawn laughed and just walked off "That wasn't an answer" I grumbled as Ash, Paul, Dawn and I stepped onto the harbour.

"This is" I started "Weird?" Ash suggested "Creepy?" Dawn asked "Nothing like you thought?" Paul suggested "Yes to all" I answered as we looked as the happy and prospering town.

"Are you sure we're in the right place?" Paul asked as Dawn had a confused look on her face "I'll go ask" she said as she ran over to a random man on the docks "Excuse me sir, what town is this?" she asked as the rest of us followed her "It's Lorcan dear" he said kindly "Really? It's nothing like I heard it was" she said as she was genuinely confused. The man chuckled "Most travellers say that when they first get here, truth is that all of those rumours are about before the Great Plague" he said happily "The Great Plague? As in the one that turned the survivors into Desolate?" Paul asked "Yea, we were a pretty poor town, but after the unholy creation of the Desolate, the traders have made the town a lot of money" he said with a bright happy smile… while all three boys wanted to tackle him and rip his flesh from his bones.

Truth is that after the Great Plague, the church got more power, they said that the plague was a message from god to take the worthy, those who survived were said to be the devil's worshippers, and as a society that believes whatever the church tells us, it made it a lot easier for people to treat the Desolate more as animals than humans.

The man walked off happily not even noticing the death glares from all three boys.

Dawn turned to the three of us, or me mainly "I was just thinking, if your friend May got here first do you think she'd hang around town?" she asked.

With everything that happened I had forgotten to worry "It's possible, I talked to Steven and he saw nothing, same with Tracy" I said as I thought about it "It's possible that she could have hitched a ride… she's a good liar and actor… for all we know she could have pretended to be a shipwreck victim and made her way onto a boat" Ash said "It's possible" I said before someone yelled "Stop thief!" it was a woman.

We ran through an alleyway and another one before finding ourselves in the market, just in time to see a boy with while hair and red eyes run past holding a large sack of apples in one hand run past. In his other hand was a girl's wrist, she was carrying a bag of bread and a jar of jam, she was also wearing a cloak with the hood down so we could see her face.

Wait… I know her.

Dawn turned to the three of us "Guy's I think that was May" she said as all three of us gave her a 'No Shit' look.


	12. Chapter 11

For future reference, this chapter and the next one are to show what happened to certain characters in the time of the last chapter.

 **Chapter 11 – May's POV**

I've been flying for hours! I have seriously underestimated the factor of how long it takes to fly across a freaking ocean -_-

What's worse is that I can't fly below clouds in case ships might see me and try and catch me, as a result the air is thinner, so it was getting harder and harder to breath.

That's when I couldn't take it anymore, both of my wings were worn out and barely keeping me up by now, so I just gave up.

The feeling of the wind passing me as I fell was a lot different to the feeling of flying.

As I fell, my mind drifted to my best friend Levy… maybe I can see her again now.

The water impacted so hard on my back that I was winded before my lungs were filled with water.

Just before my vision turned black I spotted someone heading towards me, a shark I think.

*Cough* *Cough* *Cough* I spluttered as the water in my lungs was violently expelled.

I sat up as I continued coughing.

After I could breathe properly I looked around to see I was on a ship, I looked up and quickly realised I was on a pirate ship thanks to a specific black flag with a skull and crossbones waving in the wind at the top of the mast.

"Are you okay?" a kind voice asked from next to me.

I looked to my left to see a handsome boy with white hair and ruby red eyes, the first thing I noticed was that he was shirtless and covered in water "Umm yes I think so… thank you for helping me" I said as I rubbed the salt water out of my eyes.

They snapped open though when he touched my wings… Crap I didn't have enough strength to put them away before.

I was frozen, these guys are pirates, as far as I know is that no matter how handsome they are they lie cheat and manipulate.

"You're a rare find" he said as he was referring to my wings… or so I thought.

He brushed a lock of hair out from in front of my face and his eyes turned soft "Who would have thought that a fallen angel would fall right next to my ship" he said as I blushed a little before realising something, he had a Desolate mark, it was the same as Misty's mark except his was red "Are you a shark Desolate?" I asked, catching him off guard.

He chuckled and nodded "I had a feeling you saw me when I was in the water" he said before standing up and holding out his hand.

I took it and he helped me stand, my body still in shock after hitting the water, and I looked around the crew to see that several crew members have Desolate marks "Welcome aboard the Equalizer, whether your Desolate or human, you are welcome" he said as some crew members smiled kindly at me.

This was a great change of pace compared to my resent line of hectic moments.

I was about to ask him where he was going when my stomach growled "Hungry are we?" he teased before he called someone over "Wally could you get her something to eat?" he yelled as a boy my age with green hair ran over to us "We have some fruit you can eat" the boy said as I cautiously followed him.

Not only did they feed me but they also gave me some new clothes and boots since the others were more than worn out.

There weren't any other girls on board so the boy, whom I found out was the captain named Brendan, gave me his room.

Just after dinner I had just finished getting changed into the night gown they gave me when a knock came from the other side of the room's door "Oh good it fits" Wally said sweetly before holding up a bucket of water "Do you mind if I wash the salt out of your hair?" he asked as he held up some hair wash.

I nodded and opened the door wider and he told me to sit.

It was rather relaxing to be honest, it was more like a massage than him washing my hair.

Before I knew it I was talking to him openly "My you've been through so much" he said sadly as he began to wash the suds out of my hair "May I come in?" Brendan asked as the door was already open "I'm almost finished here" Wally said as Brendan sat on the bed.

After Wally finished I thanked him before he said it was no problem and left.

"That boy is too nice to be a pirate" Brendan commented with a chuckle "Wasn't it you who said anyone was welcome?" I asked smugly "Touché" he answered with a chuckle.

Suddenly he stopped laughing and had a serious face "Tell me why you want to go to Lorcan" he said as I knew he would ask eventually, Wally had asked where I was headed during dinner and I knew Brendan overheard.

I sighed "Two of my friends, Chase and Misty, were taken by Desolate traders back in Lar-fisto… so I guess I went after them without thinking" I admitted with a slight chuckle "Lar-fisto? How long were you flying for?" he asked as he obviously knew the distance between the two towns "I think it might have been nine… maybe ten hours… as you saw at dinner I eat a lot so I ran out of fuel since I didn't eat breakfast this morning or dinner last night… also add the fact it was thin air since I had to fly high to stay out of view… honestly I'm surprised I made it so far" I said as I was actually rather proud of myself "I'm surprised too" he commented with an amused huff.

"Would you like some help?" he asked suddenly "With what?" I asked as he gave me a serious but kind look "Getting your friends back, after all we have a nasty habit of showing us at Desolate auctions and ruining it all with either fake bids or sneaking round the back to release the prisoners" he said as a large smile spread across my lips "So she can smile" he said as I looked at him confused "What?" I asked "For the five hours you've been on board my ship your eyes have been a little lifeless and you haven't smiles once" he said with a slightly worried expression "I'm guessing those friends of yours are really special to you" he add as s looked down "Yea… and I can't lose anyone else" I said as I went back to my sad mode.

I could tell he was curious about my past… but instead of asking, he just stood up "Get some sleep, we'll be arriving in Lorcan by sunrise and when we get there you and me can go have a little fun before we go to rescue your friends" he said before smiling warmly at me and walking out side and closing the door but not before saying "Sweet dreams" something I haven't heard in six years.

"Hey May, wake up" Wally said softly as he shook me awake "Hey Wally… did we reach Lorcan yet?" I asked "Yea we did not long ago, I made you some breakfast" he said sweetly as he placed a tray on the table next to the bed "Wally you didn't have to" I said modestly "It's rude to refuse food you know" Brendan said from the door.

I rolled my eyes at him then looked at Wally and said "Thank you" before I began to eat.

"So what time are we doing this fun activity today?" I asked as I ate some toast with jam on it "Well we're running low on apples, jam and bread after your 'snack' yesterday" he said with a chuckle as I started to catch on to what he was suggesting "I should mention we don't have much money either" he added.

Wally rolled his eyes "Long story short he wants to teach you how to steal, it should help you in the future" he said as Brendan pouted slightly, I tilted my head slightly "But I already know how to steal, in fact my guardian at the time encouraged it… to a degree" I said as I remembered my orphanage days.

I looked up to see both boys staring at me "Really?" Wally asked shocked "Yea, he never bothered to buy food for me or the other kids so I would have to steal" I said as they both went silent before Brendan spoke up "Well then we'll just have to see who is better" he said before he and Wally walked out.

I finished my food and got changed before meeting Brendan out on the dock who was wearing a large black trench coat, black pants and boots, a white button up shirt, a dark red vest and a white cravat tucked under the vest "What's with the coat? It basically screams thief" I said a little smugly.

He just smirked at me "Come on then miss master thief and show me your skill" he said as he turned to walk into town.

 **Brendan's POV**

Why am I doing this? I shouldn't be doing this right now; I should be prepping my crew for a fight.

It's just something about her eyes, they're usually cold and lifeless but when she smiled they became beautiful pools of sapphire blue.

I looked behind myself to see she was looking around cautiously at everyone "What are you doing?" I asked with half closed eyes "How are you so relaxed? This place gives off a weird vibe… I don't know if it's the citizens or the town itself" she said before she froze up.

I was about to ask what was wrong but she pulled me into an alleyway and pushed be against the wall "Well May I didn't know you felt that way" I teased but I was met with an unimpressed face "Stay quiet" she whispered before glancing out into the street and then back to me again "Who are we hiding from?" I asked "Giovanni" she mumbled as her hands began to shake.

Wally had told me everything she told him last night, that's kind off Wally's job. Since he's too kind and weak to be a fighter I use him to get information out of people.

I of course had my own reasons for hating him, he was an asshole who tore Desolate families apart, treating us like cattle.

Once he left she calmed down immediately, it was a little weird as to how fast.

We stepped out to the street and checked for Geovanni and his goons, after seeing none we went back to our original goal for coming into town this morning.

We walked for a short time before May grabbed my hand "What are you doing?" I asked after as I smirked down at her "If you wanted to hold hands you just had to say so sweetheart" I said but like other times she wasn't fazed "Pretend we're a couple, then we go up to that stall and I pretend to drop my ring under the stall, when they go for it we grab some things and get out of there" she said simply "Okay but where do we get a ring?" I asked sceptically, it was a good idea but it might not work "Took this just then… looks expensive" she commented as she held up a rather posh looking engagement ring "How did you?" I asked as I looked around for who she could have taken it from "It's as you said… I'm miss master thief" she said with a smirk.

We eventually found a stall with easy to grab things with everything we'll need.

The plan was actually working well and it would have easily worked… if only a bratty little kid hadn't yelled "Mommy their taking stuff!" getting us both caught "Stop Thief!" the mother yelled before I grabbed May's wrist and started running.

For a brief second I looked back at her and was mesmerised.

Her eyes were so full of life, her hair was blowing in the wind and she had a large smile across her face.

We made it back to the boat and we quickly got on board "You got caught didn't you?" Wally asked as I gave Wally the apples and my coat.

I had May go below deck as I put a black wig on and a pair of glasses. Wally gave me a tie and separate coat so by the time the officers arrived I looked like a scholar, works every time.


	13. Chapter 12

Sorry it took a while to upload, spent the last few days on a school trip, wasn't until I got there that I realised that there was no internet -_-

Anyway here ya go, hope you like it :)

 **Chapter 12 – Drew's POV**

I ran as fast as I could, I've been hot on May and the guy's tails ever since I saw them running past.

"Drew! Wait up!" Dawn yelled as she, Ash and Paul ran behind me. I however ignored her though and kept running.

What was she doing with that guy?

Why did she look so damn happy?

WHY DO I CARE!?

I rounded a corner and saw that we were back at the docks, just further down.

"You finally stopped" Dawn sighed as she leaned down on her knees "You're tired after that?" Ash asked before Dawn glared at him "Hey I'm not like you guys, I don't have all the added agility and speed that you have" she hissed as Ash backed up a bit, a bit ashamed since he, an eighteen year old, was cowering to a fifteen year old girl.

Paul just smirked "What was that?" Ash asked with a slight glare of his own, Paul chuckled and said "Nothing" before walking over to me.

"I saw them go this way" I mumbled as Paul sighed "For a dog, your tracking skills aren't very good" Paul said smugly as I glared at him "I'm a wolf" "Really? That your only complaint with that remark?" Dawn asked with a sigh. Suddenly Ash clicked his finders "Hey Drew why don't you sniff her out?" he asked. I looked at him with a shocked face "Sniff her out?" I questioned "Well I've seen you track Misty down after one of her shark frenzies" Ash said referring to the moments when Misty loses her cool demeanour and goes ballistic, tearing things with her razor sharp teeth and beating up anyone who made her mad.

He had a point, but I never really got to know May's smell, I only know Misty's better because I've known her for years.

"If you're having trouble then how about I give you something from May's bag?" Dawn asked as she remembered that May, Misty and Chase's things were back on the ship "No, if I do a full transformation I should be able to find her" I said as I let out a steady breath and transformed, thankfully the area was almost deserted so nobody saw us.

I sniffed at the air as I tried to remember May's scent.

My eyes widened as I caught it, nearby.

"Already?" Ash asked as I started running off down the docks.

I skidded to a stop and sat in front of a ship, it looked like a nobleman's boat, but I knew May was on board "She's on there?" Dawn asked as she and the boys caught up again.

I stayed in wolf form and slowly walked onto the boat "Hey there boy" a voice said, my head snapped to my right and my eyes widened.

Standing less than five meters from me was a boy with green hair holding a rope, he might be related to me "Don't move Wally, he's a desolate, we don't know how he feels about humans" a males voice said from my Left, near the back of the ship.

I looked at him and started growling "Hey calm down mate, look we're both in the same boat" he said as he pulled down his collar to reveal a red version of Misty's Desolate Mark.

I calmed down a bit and transformed back "I'll admit, it's pretty badass that you can do a full body transformation, here I was thinking I was the only one" he said as he held out his hand "the name's Brendan Birch, you gonna introduce yourself?" he asked with a smirk. I took his hand and said "Drew" as I shook it.

"Drew?" an all too familiar voice asked.

I looked behind Brendan to see May standing there "May" I said with a relieved sigh, before running over to her and hugging her "thank god you're safe, you had me worried sick" I said as I buried her head in my neck.

She hugged back immediately, more like clinging "I'm sorry… I was so worried about losing Misty and Chase I wasn't thinking clearly" she said as she relaxed into me "Get a room you two" Ash commented as Dawn and Paul gave us teasing looks, both of us immediately letting go "Umm who're these two?" May asked with a large embarrassed blush across her face.

"I'm Dawn, this is Paul, and I'm an old friend of Drew's" Dawn said as she pointed from herself to Paul then back to herself again.

"So how do you guys know Angel?" Brendan asked as he was suddenly standing between May and I "Angel?" May asked as he put an arm around her "Well I did say that you were a fallen angel so I think it fits" he said as he moved closer to May who was blushing.

Something about it really irked me.

May smiled up at him "This is the Ash and Drew I was telling you about… wait what about Leaf?" she asked, looking back at me "She's okay, we left her back in Lar-fisto with a few of her friends" Ash said for me as right now for some reason I couldn't seem to form words.

Dawn noticed this and trotted over to May "So I hear you're a really rare Desolate, only one of your kind" she said as she held May's hands and looked at her with mesmerised eyes, Dawn was always a giant nerd when it came to almost anything Desolate. May smiled awkwardly at Dawn before glancing at Brendan and I almost wearily, like if she left, something bad would happen.

Dawn tugged on her hands slightly, bringing May's attention back to the bluenette "Umm sure… how about we talk over lunch?" she asked before Dawn cheered and pulled May off the ship and back into the city.

It was rather awkward, none of us were saying anything and the tension grew thicker and thicker "So… You're the Ash and Drew May has told me about" Brendan stated before he looked at me "I have a feeling you and I have a lot in common" he said smugly as he glanced at May "Is there somewhere we can talk in private?" I asked as he just smirked again "Sure, my quarters are the only place my crew members aren't allowed to go without permission" Brendan said as he turned to a door located beneath the back deck "Well? Coming or not?" he asked a little annoyed before I followed him.

We all walked inside and my wolf ears immediately popped out "What do you want to talk about?" Brendan asked as his smirk grew "May's scent" I mumbled "Excuse me?" Brendan asked "I can smell her all over the room… the couch… that chair… the… bed" I hissed out as he grinned "Relax wolfie, she was passed out, I only did what every man would… give her a comfy bed and entertain her… with card games and food" he said as I could tell he was trying to make me jump to conclusions, sad thing was that it was working.

Brendan sat at his desk and motioned for the three of us to sit, so we did.

He looked us up and down before sighing "So May told me that two of your friends were taken in by a Desolate trader a few days ago, I can tell you that the trader is Meowth Feline, a small time trader with a slight yandere side, more than anything he wants his 'hero' Giovanni to hire him, but whenever he gets close to gaining Giovanni's respect, something would always happen, whether it was a Desolate escape, a regular human being mistaken for being a Desolate or him being beaten by the Desolate he caught" Brendan said as we all looked at him with wide eyes.

He gave us and odd look and said "What? I am a Desolate too, I learned these things so I could survive" as the three of us nodded but stayed suspicious "So are you going to help us?" Ash asked as Brendan smiled "I actually came to this town for that very reason, not for your friends, but to release the captured Desolate" he said before pulling out a piece of paper with a drawing of a coliseum on it "What's this?" Paul asked unimpressed "The reason this town gains the most profit from Desolate trading is because they force the Desolate to fight in the arena either against other animals or each other, the winner stays to fight another day while the looser is sold as a slave" Brendan said as disgust was dripping from every word "So how do you suspect we get them out?" I asked as I had a good look at the drawing.

Brendan smirked "We place a decoy" he said smugly "What do you mean?" I asked "It's easy to sneak into the coliseum but it's almost impossible to get out" May said as she and Dawn were listening from the door "I thought you two were going to get something to eat?" Ash asked as Dawn shook her head "May can't really walk around for a short time, the police are still roaming the streets" she said as she and May sat on the couch "So who's the decoy going to be?" I asked before Brendan said exactly what I was fearing "May of course" "What?" I asked as I looked from him to May "Why?" I asked as I locked onto May.

May sighed and looked me dead in the eye "Giovanni is in town, if he sees his precious bat down in the arena he'll start a fight with the ringmaster, giving us more than enough time to get out" she said with a clear voice and steady breathing even though she was talking about Goivanni "How will you get the prisoner out if she's in the arena though?" Ash asked as he was worried about Misty "Wally will sneak by and unlock all of the doors while the rest of us are in the crowd waiting for Giovanni's freak out" Brendan said as he took the paper away from me.

The sun was setting and May was down in Brendan's room getting on some rags they traded for some of the apples they stole "Why do you think this is such a good idea?" I asked as Brendan stood next to me dressed in some weird costume that made him look like a thug "Actually Drew it was her idea… you shouldn't hold her back; she's got a large spirit despite all that she's been through… if you keep trying to stop her she might start to hate you" he said just before May walked out "How do I look?" she asked as she showed off the rags.

Brendan tied a belt around his hand "Are you ready for this next part?" Brendan asked painfully as I looked away "It has to look convincing, so come on, do it" May said before Brendan hit her.

Immediately after he was helping her up "Yep that will leave a good black eye" he asked as he held her torso to lift her "It better" May mumbled before she handed him some rope before smudging ash and dirt on her before Brendan tied up her hands "So when is the battles?" Dawn asked as she teethed some of May's hair "Tomorrow morning, but their selfish enough to take in any last minute Desolate, no matter how much they have to pay" Brendan "Wait pay? We're selling her?" I asked as I pointed at May "Yea but Brendan said I get all of the money since it's me we're selling" she said calmly as I couldn't help but be mad at how calm she was.

Before I knew it I was also wearing a thug costume "Why am I coming?" I asked "Because Ash and Paul are too busy with the rest of the crew and Dawn refused to" May said "Besides May's pretty popular by the Desolate traders and will know that one guy couldn't take her down… I've heard some of the stories and to be honest I don't think even two would make any difference" Brendan said as we started walking through town "To be fair some of them are exaggerated" May said with a humoured tone.

We reached the colosseum quickly and saw the Desolate traders wheeling one last cage of Desolate into the basement "Who the hell are you?" one of the traders asked with a stuck up tone "Doesn't matter… we heard you guys are buying Desolate here" Brendan said with a slight slur "We are… but as it's the end of the day we might not be able to pay as much" the trader said trying to bargain with us "Oh I think you'll want this one" I said as I took out the sword I was given before leaving and pointing it to May's neck "Do it" I said in a threatening tone but feeling horrible.

May spat at me and I held it closer before she let her wings out "Oh my god!" the trader yelled "That's… she's… how much do you want?" the trader asked as Brendan and I smirked.


	14. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13 – Misty's POV**

My eyes slowly cracked open as the dim light of the lamps filled the room.

I looked around to see I was still on the ship, now below deck.

I heard a groan come from next to me and my head snapped towards it, I was in full alert mode "Chase!" I yelled, shocked that I so easily found him "Misty?" he groaned as he sat up rubbing his head "Are you okay?" I asked as I helped him lean against the wall.

He was covered in bruises; they obviously beat him.

Suddenly he grabbed my collar "What are you doing here?" he asked, for the first time since I met him, his voice was somewhat dark "I came to help you" I answered as I almost shrank from fear.

He let me go and slumped against the wall "Delia was supposed to stop you guys from coming" he sighed as I looked at him, baffled at his statement "Delia what?" I almost screamed before he covered my mouth "Quiet, they'll hear you" he hissed before taking his hand away.

I stared at him "Delia put you here… what don't we know?" I questioned as this time it was my turn to be threatening.

He avoided my eyes, meaning it was something big "Tell me" I threatened as I showed my teeth, which by the way can tear through iron and steel… so bones and flesh are nothing, and he knew I would do it if I had to.

It took me lunging on him for him to finally start talking "Alright! I'll tell you!" he yelled as he tried to push me off.

We both sat, facing each other and keeping eye contact "Delia is actually helping" he said blankly "WHAT?!" I screamed "Quiet Desolate scum!" a man yelled. I looked at the man and yelled "Go suck a-!" "Misty there are kids here" chase cut me off before I looked back at him "Tell me _EVERYTHING_ " I hissed.

"Delia actually takes in strong Desolate for liberations, when she sends them off to slave traders she knows that their strong enough to escape and get others out, she just puts on the whole 'Desolate are nothing but scum' attitude so none of the slave traders suspect her" he said as I just stared "It was all an act?" I asked as he just nodded.

"What about Aaron?" I asked as Chase tilted his head "Ash's older brother" I said blankly as he made an 'o' face "She said that was something she and Ash had to discuss" he said as I turned and leaned against the wall "So she's actually helping?" I asked "Yea, she was supposed to keep you guys at the house until this morning, I was supposed to be the 'inside man' while you guys were supposed to attack from the outside as a distraction… Leaf was an unexpected bump in the plan" he said with a sigh.

I just sat there with my head in my hands "I'll tell you this, she's a good actor" I mumbled as he sat next to me and we looked around the area below deck.

Most of the Desolate here looked like they were dogs, cats (including the larger cats like lions), rodents and a few birds.

Off in the corner there were three kids, two girls and a boy, one of the girls looked very similar to the boy and seemed to both be canary Desolates while the other girl was a fox Desolate.

"They're too young to go through this" Chase mumbled as I hummed in agreement.

For a few hours the only sounds were the crew's footsteps until the door opened "Alright scum, against the wall" a man said as he walked downstairs with three armed men.

I held back a chuckle when I saw him.

He was completely bald except for two spiky bits of hair that resembled cat ears. He also had a gold coin sticking out of his head.

One of the men off in the corner of the room didn't stifle his laugh though "Are you kidding me? We were kidnapped by this freak?" he laughed as the strange looking man glared at him "I don't think you're in any position to make such remarks you trash" he threatened as the man didn't seem to be fazed "Oh yea and who are you to say that?" he questioned before one of the guards began to beat him "I am Meouth Feline, your master and if you think you can get away from me that I hope you're willing to die" he said, humoured by the man being beaten.

The guard stopped beating him and another came up with a clipboard "Name and type of Desolate" he said as the beaten man glared up at him "Tell him!" Meouth yelled "Lui Surge… gorilla" he hissed as he spat out a bit of blood.

Lui was taken upstairs and they moved onto the other Desolate, eventually reaching Chase and myself "Name and type" one of them said to Chase "Pierce Lowan, and I'm an Eagle" he said with a glare before he was forced to his feet and forced upstairs "State your name girl" Meouth hissed at me "What? Don't want to ask what I am?" I asked smugly "I already saw plenty last night" he said as hatred dripped from every word. I smirked and looked up "Daisy Wallace" I said, giving him a fake name of my own before he had me taken upstairs.

We were forced into a cage and were carted through the night towards a coliseum "What's that for?" Chase asked as a chuckle came from next to us "So that's why this place is so popular" a man mumbled.

He was an older man with while hair and a beard that covered his mouth "What do you mean?" Chase asked as the man chuckled "Isn't it obvious boy? This is a fighting arena… they want us to fight each other" he said with a slightly amused tone "What's got you so chipper old man?" Chase asked, obviously offended "First, the names Drayden and second, I don't get chipper… I'm just surprised that this is even allowed" he said as he leant on the bars.

We were about to enter the building when I saw someone out of the corner of my eye.

It was only a glimpse but I knew "Hey Chase, looks like there's someone here to help" I said smugly.

 **May's POV**

Alright, I'm in.

Now I just have to wait.

I was thrown into a cell with a few dozen other Desolate "Geese" I mumbled as I rubbed my head that had hit the ground "May!" two voices yelled.

I looked up to see Misty and Chase standing above me. I quickly stood up and hugged both of them "You're okay" I breathed out before looking at them both "Boy do I have a lot to tell you" I said before Misty smiled at Chase and back at me "We have a lot to tell you as well" she said as I gave her a confused look.

"WHAT?!" I yelled "I know, I reacted the same way when Chase told me" Misty said with a slight chuckle.

To think that everything she said and did was all an act… Ash was even fooled into thinking that his mother was a horrible person "Why would she go so far into the act though? Why not just tell us she needed our help?" I asked as Misty sighed "It's to keep other nobles from realising, if they found out she was willingly helping to free Desolates then her title would be stripped away, and this way she can get intel on other nobles" she said before Chase decided to add something in "I also think something happened between her and her husband, something she doesn't want Ash knowing about" before a large man next to us mumbled "Could you shut it? We're trying to sleep" it was Lui.

"Lui?" I asked as I crawled over to him "Is that you Maybelle?" he asked, shocked that I was still alive "Long time no see buddy" I said with a slight grin "If only it was a better situation" Lui sighed before wincing slightly "They beat you didn't they?" I asked as he eyed the visible scars on my midriff, since the shirt I was wearing only really covered my chest and part of my back "What are those from?" he asked worried. I looked away "This isn't my first encounter with Desolate traders" I said before looking back at him and his injuries "Don't worry about me little bell, I'll be fine" he said as he used my childhood nickname.

"OI! Go to sleep you maggots!" one of the guards yelled "We're trying!" a large man with a thick white beard yelled angrily before rolling over and going back to sleep.

"Come on" Lui said as he made room next to him so I could sleep there. I smiled at him and laid down, using his chest as a pillow before Misty and Chase joined us.

We were all awoken to water being splashed on us "Wake up!" a guard yelled as two men next to him held now empty buckets.

Everyone glared at him but he just ignored us "Now, to start the day off we have previous winners duelling with each other, after that you will be paired off and will battle, if you don't want to become a slave then I suggest you win, because those who win get food and a bed" he said before a loud roar came from outside as a crowd cheered "Looks like the first battle has started" he said before he and his men walked off.

There was a small window that opened to the battle ground, the bottom of the window on the battle grounds floor of dirt.

I decided to check who was battling and saw that it was a lion and a hyena.

I gasped every time blood was shed, it was obvious these guys had been in numerous battles, no longer caring if they hurt one of their own as long as they didn't become a slave.

"This is all disgusting" the man from last night commented from next to me "Yea" I said before I sat against the wall "So what are you kid?" he asked as he obviously noticed I didn't have much muscle on me. I was a little hesitant "I'm a bat" I said before several people looked at me with either fear or amazement "You're the bat?" one young boy asked.

He had blonde hair, glasses and was wearing a blue jumpsuit "Umm yea" I said a little nervous, I wasn't use to other Desolate knowing who I was "Wow it's her" a young girl who was clinging to the boy said with bright eyes.

Another young girl walked up to me and held her hand out "Nice to meet ya, the names Iris and I must say that I'm a fan" she said happily as I shoot her hand "Excuse me if I sound rude but you aren't acting like you've been kidnaped, you do know that if you don't win todays fight then you'll become a slave" I said as I felt like these three weren't understanding how dire the situation was.

The girl sighed "I know… but before mum left she said to always smile even when nobody else will" she said as it was similar to the line my mum would give me as a child.

A loud cheer came from outside as the match was over. I looked out the window and gasped.

The lion was on the ground, blood pouring from several lethal wounds and coughing up blood.

While the hyena was in a similar state but instead of coughing he was simply panting.

This sort of thing continued for hours until the final match for previous winners was called "After this we'll have to fight each other" the man with a with a white beard said "No kidding sunshine" I spat, the matches getting on every nerve I had.

He sent me a glare before Misty walked up to me "His name is Drayden, I'd start using it before he attacks you" she said as the man rolled his eyes.

Suddenly a loud voice came from outside "Now ladies and gentleman! The fight you've all been waiting for!" the announcer yelled.

I looked outside to see the doors on the left open "On the left we have the bulky buffalo Chuck!" he yelled then pointed to the right "And the venomous snake Levy!" he yelled as my eyes widened "What did he just say?" Chase asked as he rushed over to the bars.

Both of us watched with wide eyes as our thought to be dead friend emerged from the right side of the stage.


	15. Chapter 14

Hi, not sure if my hint to who Lui is was strong enough, Lui's last name is Surge... what pokemon character's last name is Surge?

If you haven't noticed by now then you should know that I tend to use the gym leaders or elite four characters as extras (Like Brawly, Drayden and Steven).

 **Chapter 14 – No POV**

Levy's appearance had changed a lot since both Chase and May had last seen her.

Her once long black hair was now barely up to her shoulders and her lively green eyes were void of emotion.

The difference between her and her opponent were massive. On one side there was Levy, short (barely reached up to Chase's shoulders), slightly frail and only hints of muscle n her body, while her opponent Chuck had big muscles and was twice her height, his shoulders were bigger than Levy's head.

The crowd cheered at the two champions while Chase and May were staring, eyes filled with fear for their friend.

The announcer called for them to transform.

Chuck's muscles only bulked up more and grew tusks, his legs turning into those of a bores hind legs.

Levy's body became covered in black scales with red ones on her stomach, her eyes becoming completely black, and sprouting from her mouth were long fangs dripping with venom.

Chase had wide eyes "She's a snake?" he asked "Yea… like me she's rare" May mumbled as the announcer yelled for the battle to start "You knew?" Chase asked a little sad that he was never told "I only found out on accident, I was told to never tell since Desolate traders were after her and her family" May said as Misty joined them "So that's Levy… she's cute" Misty said as she nudged Chase who blushed a bit.

Suddenly their attention was brought back to the fight when Levy took off towards Chuck.

He started charging as well.

Just as it looked as if they were about to clash, Levy skidded underneath him and jumped onto his back, biting into his neck like a vampire.

Chuck cried out in pain before grabbing Levy and throwing her across the field.

"You little bitch!" he yelled angrily as he readied himself to charge before he wobbled a little and crouched "What?" he asked as he put a hand in front of his eyes as his vision began to blur. Loud chuckling came from the field as Levy stood back up, not a scratch on her.

"Umm… you didn't catch what type of snake she was did you?" Chase asked May "A red-bellied black snake" May said calmly as she didn't take her eyes off the match.

Levy put a hand on her hip and used the other to take off the shred of skin stuck to her fang "Don't worry you won't die, at worst you'll get some blood clotting and some muscle and nerve damage" she said nonchalantly before walking up to him and grabbing his hair and staring into his eyes "If I were you… I'd surrender unless you want me to bite you again, and if I did you will definitely have some problems then" she threatened as May said everything to Misty, Chase, Lui and Drayden who was listening too.

Chase was shocked the most, the Levy he knew wouldn't even think about threatening someone and she was a pacifist… this was a whole other person.

Chuck looked up at Levy and spat "Dream on bitch" he said before grabbing her throat and standing up "This is nothing compared to what my previous master put me through" Chuck said as he enjoyed the scared look on Levy's face "Well that's too bad" Levy choked out.

The man chuckled as Levy fell limp and threw her to the ground.

The crowd cheered for the victor as he revelled in the reassurance that he wasn't being sold off.

However; just as Chuck was about to leave for the cell he had gotten accustomed to, his movement was completely restricted as Levy wrapped around him.

Everyone went silent, Levy's body from the waist down was a four-and-a-half-meter snake tail that was now wrapped around Chuck, crushing his ribs and making him scream in pain.

Levy leaned into his face "I warned you… you should have listened" she hissed before slowly unwrapping herself from him, his broken and bruised body laying limp on the ground.

Everyone went silent "Wow… she's terrifying" Misty commented as the others slowly nodded.

The announcer yelled "And the winner is the venomous snake Levy!" in a shaky voice before the nets were fired, pinning Levy to the ground as she turned back to her human form, not resisting in the least.

Before anyone could comprehend what happened a loud banging was heard on the cell bars "Alright we've already chosen someone from the other cage, so who's going in?" he asked as he looked around the cell before his eyes landed on Misty "Ah the girl who killed three of my men" he said as the door opened and two men with swords and full body armour walked in.

They were about to grab her when May stepped forwards "Take me instead" she demanded as the guard chuckled "What this? The late arrival wants to go first… why?" he asked before May smirked "I've been watching you're matches, the rarer the Desolate, the more the crowd enjoys it" she said smugly before glaring "but the gorier the less the crowd likes it, I'm rather rare and I know how to stop fights quickly" she said as the two soldiers looked back to their boss. The man sighed "If the little lady wants to fight then let her" he said as the men grabbed May "See ya later" she called out after Misty, Chase and Lui who all sent her worried looks.

 **Drew's POV**

I've been nervous since I woke up, what if May had been hurt? What if they didn't bother having her fight and are just selling her?

Brendan tapped my shoulder "Hey grassweed" he said tiredly as he walked past me yawning "Hello to you too snow flake" I mumbled as I just ate my bread (Breakfast) and stared out at the ocean "You look thirsty" Brendan commented as he held out a cup of water "Thanks" I said as I took it from him.

He just stood next to me "So does May know?" he asked as I gave him an odd look "Does May know what?" I asked as I turned around to him completely as he just leaned on the ships railing "The real meaning behind your hair" he said with a smirk as I just stared at him "How did you know?" I asked as he smirked "Why do you think Wally's here? Just like you, he's a son to one of your father's three wives, Amelia if I remember correctly, she died so he ran off" he said as he watched Wally run around making sure everyone on the ship was having breakfast and had something to drink before looking back at me smugly "since his only wife left is Rosalina, that makes your mother Nelly, easily the most beautiful and his favourite, but had an accident on her way home, in a carriage with her son and his two attendants, a son of whom was chosen to replace his father when the right time came" he finished as I just glared at him "How long have you known?" I asked as he just chuckled "The second I saw your hair I had a hunch, then Wally told me that you looked familiar, granted the last time he saw you, you were both rather young" he said simply "Don't tell May" I said seriously as he raised an eyebrow "Why not?" he asked.

I sighed "When I was still with my family anytime a girl flirted with me they were after the title of being my wife, lured in by the way I look… May's different" I said as he tiled his head "Different?" he asked "She doesn't give a damn what I looked like, she likes me for me… and I feel like if she found out from someone other than me… she might think that I don't trust her" I sighed before feeling a reassuring hand on my shoulder and looked to see it was Brendan.

I'll admit, as smug as the guy was, he was a good listener "Look… just… promise you won't mention it until I tell her myself" I said as he chuckled "Don't worry man, I may be a pirate but I keep my word" he said before Ash showed up "Come on we're leaving" he said giving us both cloaks to cover our odd hair colour, Wally was wearing a beanie since he had to look less suspicious while sneaking about.

We arrived at the coliseum to hear that some of the fights have started. Brendan cleared his throat and looked around to see nobody "Okay people, the main group will be sitting in different sections of the crowd, try to stay as spread out as possible, Dawn and Paul will be out here, if anything happens, Dawn is to come find me or Drew, Drew and I will be near the announcer to give any emergency signals if something changes, and Wally will be going down to the cells to free the captured Desolate once everything starts" Brendan said as everyone nodded and began to enter through different entrances to not raise suspicion.

 **No POV**

Waiting outside was rather boring, personally Dawn wanted to be a part of the action, bust since she and Paul are the youngest at fourteen and fifteen, they were assigned the least dangerous job "This is so boring" Dawn complained as she just sat on a crate as Paul did laps of the coliseum.

"You don't have to mope about it Dawn" Paul said as he sat next to her.

Dawn's face went red as his hand touched hers "Umm… shouldn't you be doing laps right now?" she asked, looking away so he wouldn't see her face.

Paul chuckled "We've been secretly dating for two years now, you should be use to holding my hand by now" he said as he leaned over to see her face and chuckled a bit at her embarrassment "Shut up" Dawn said as she covered her face with her free hand.

Paul was about to tease her for it but something stopped him "Get down" he said as he pulled her behind the crate "What is it?" Dawn asked as she peered out from their hiding spot "Giovanni came outside" Paul said a little confused "Why?" Dawn asked but got a look from Paul that said 'How am I supposed to know?' before they ducked down.

Not far from them was Giovanni who was talking to a woman with long purple hair "I'm sorry sir but unless the Desolate loses they cannot be sold" she said as a man with bruises covering his torso and arms was carried out and in the direction of the town hospital "But that girl, the snake, she would be so useful" Giovanni said as he took out his wallet "Sir I'll save you the money, I don't sell winners, so please go back and sit down, maybe the next match will interest you, I've been told the two fighters are both rare" she said before putting her arm through his and walking back inside together.

Dawn and Paul got out of their hiding spot "So what do you think that was about?" Dawn asked "Your guess is as good as mine" Paul said before quickly running another lap "So? What's happening?" Dawn asked "May's match will start very soon" Paul said, a little out of breath from the sudden dash.

May was shoved down a hallway and then at the gate "Wait here" the guard said just before a door closed her in the small space "Not like I've got much of a choice" she mumbled as she waited for the door in front of her too open.

When the doors finally opened, May's opponent was already on the battle grounds.

She had neat red hair and was wearing a short hoop shirt dress and leggings with boots on. She was giving May a look that resembled a cat looking at its prey.

The announcer yelled for them to transform.

May sprouted her wings and her fingernails sharpened into talons.

The other girl smirked as she transformed. Her skin turned a grey-green colour and her mouth became something similar to a snout.

Suddenly someone yelled from the audience "May!" it was Giovanni.

He had hopeful eyes, but they were met with a look of fear "Sir please stay seated, you may only buy the bat if she loses" the announcer said before looking back at the two girls.

"Alright May there's another reason to not loose" May mumbled to herself before the announcer started the fight, despite Giovanni's protest.

May looked at her opponent, wanting to end this fight quickly she took in a deep breath.

Chase knew exactly what she was about to do and turned to everyone in the cell "Block your ears!" he yelled as he ducked and covered his own ears, everyone else saw this and followed his order.

May let out a screech so high pitched that whoever didn't cover their eyes in time were knocked out "Since when can she do that?!" Misty yelled.

When she finished she looked to her opponent, expecting them to be on the ground with maybe a bit of blood coming out of her ears, but there was nothing. She was fine, having not even flinched.

"What?" May asked confused, that was a supersonic screech, and this girl got the strongest dose in the whole place and she wasn't even fazed.

That's when May realised… this girl had no ears, at least not anymore.

The girl chuckled "That might work on regular people and most Desolate, but I'm an eel darling, my ears are internal, your little trick doesn't work" she said proudly before rubbing her hands together.

A spark appeared "What are you doing?" May asked as fear filled her senses "Oh right I didn't mention what kind of eel I was did I?" she asked with an evil giggle as her hands had small sparks coming off of them "Let's just say that it's pretty shocking" she added as May readied herself to fly if needed.


	16. Chapter 15

Fair warning, this chapter is a little rushed, but I promise the next chapter might be a little longer than usual.

 **Chapter 15 – Drew's POV**

YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!

Not only is May's most useful attack useless now but her opponent can zap her.

I desperately wanted to transform and help her but Brendan held me back "What are you doing?" I hissed as my fangs came out "Look at Giovanni" Brendan said calmly in a 'don't care' tone.

I looked over to Giovanni and saw that he too looked like he was about to jump in "From what May's told me and the way he's acting, she's very precious to him, if she were to get hurt he will do a lot more than make a fuss" Brendan said as I calmed down a little.

I sat back down but my worried look returned when I saw the scared expression on May's face, she didn't know what to do.

 **May's POV**

WHAT THE HELL DO I DO?! NOBODY MENTIONED A LIGHTNING POWERED DESOLATE!

I spread my wings, ready to bolt if I needed.

Suddenly she came charging at me, fists sparking.

I quickly jumped into the air, barely managing to dodge her "You can't stay up there forever you stupid bat!" she yelled as she tried to jump up to me, so I moved higher. I glanced over at Drew and Brendan. Brendan was calm with a big smirk across his face and mouthed "Weak, Wuss, Can't fight" obviously trying to get me mad, which annoyed me more than angered me. Drew on the other hand looked like a nervous wreck, his left leg was going up and down and his eyes looked almost scared.

I looked back down to my opponent to see she was just standing there, annoyed as the crowd booed, some of them yelling things like "Get in there and fight!" and "Fight you wuss!" mainly directed at me.

However as I looked around the coliseum I didn't realise my opponent had run to the side of the arena where there were pillars and statues.

I saw a small child point and yell "Look out!" so I did.

The second I turned my head I was forced back to the ground, some people gasping, apparently my passive way of fighting got to some of them… if only they saw how I usually fight.

There I was, on the ground, wings spread out and a crazed girl with sparks coming off of her sitting on my torso with her feet holding down my arms by my wrists.

I glared up at her as she smiled down at me "Not so special now are we Maybelle" she said as my eyes widened. Nobody except Lui and Max are supposed to know that name.

She laughed at my reaction "What's wrong milady? Did you forget the face of your childhood servant?" she asked with a crazed look in her eyes. I just stared at her "Mars?" I asked as she just laughed "That's right missy, I thought you were my friend, we did everything together! But when you were found out you just ran! YOU LEFT ME!" she finished screaming.

I didn't move, I was told that Max was moved to an orphanage while everyone else were killed for illegally housing a desolate, so I went to the town Max was sent to… to think that Mars was a Desolate as well.

But now was no time for catch up, she was about ready to kill me, so talking was off the table.

"You wanna know the last things my mother said to me?" she asked but continued before I could answer "she said that as your personal maid I was to find and protect you no matter what" she said angrily "Can you believe it? My own mother's last words weren't even for me! They were for you!" she yelled before slamming her palm to my forehead "so I'll send you to her since you're oh so very important" she said wickedly, if I wasn't scared for my life before then I definitely was now.

 **Brendan's POV**

The second May was pinned my calm demeanour fell.

Both Drew and myself stood up and ran to the edge of the arena.

Neither of us could hear what they were talking about but the look of fear on May's face was enough to tell us that something was wrong.

Suddenly the red head put her palm on May's forehead and leaned in, she whispered something before May began screaming.

Her whole body was spasming as the red head just cackled crazily as she placed a second hand on May's abdomen.

I couldn't take it anymore. I vaulted over the edge of the arena and ran at the two of them "Brendan!" Drew yelled as he threw me a pistol.

I caught it and waked it over the red heads head. She fell unconscious on the ground.

I looked behind me to see Drew had also jumped down and was now holding May, her body still twitching from the shock.

Several people from the audience began to boo and throw things at us, nothing actually reaching us.

Suddenly a woman with short pink hair ran up to us "Move, I'm a doctor" she said but Drew held May tighter, obviously untrusting towards the human woman.

She sighed and had a look at May, ignoring all of the insults people were throwing at her.

"She'll be okay, but I suggest you three run, the guards are on their way" she said before getting up and running off.

I looked at Drew and nodded, giving him the signal.

Drew nodded back before looking up and letting out a loud howl.

 **Drew's POV**

Everyone of Brendan's crew removed their disguises, the Desolate members going as far as to transform.

The crowd were understandably scared as they almost trampled each other to make their way out of the stadium.

Suddenly Chase and Misty burst through the arena doors, having both kicked soldiers through said doors.

"May!" Misty yelled as she and Chase ran over to us "Chase you need to take her to the ship" I said as May was proving unresponsive "What ship?" he asked as I remembered that he probably had no clue what's going on "I'll go" Wally said as he ran out to us "Are you sure you can take her?" Brendan asked, knowing Wally wasn't the strongest person "I meant I'll take Chase there" Wally replied, a little insulted by his best friend "Right" Brendan mumbled awkwardly.

Chase picked May out of my arms and spread his wings "Oh that feels much better" he mumbled, obviously missed the feeling of his wings. He hovered above the ground and turned his feet into bird feet before looking down at Wally "Grab on and tell me where to go" he said seriously.

Wally did as he was told and the three of them flew away.

Within seconds the guards had reached us "So what's the plan here Drew?" Misty asked as she punched one of the guards and I threw one to a wall "Get everyone to the ships we have in the harbour, you just have to help me hold them off!" I yelled back before dropkicking a man.

 **No POV**

Drayden and Lui were fighting too, after Wally opened their cage they were both leading the group of Desolates outside, however both were exhausted and ready to feint at any moment "What now?" Drayden asked as a new set of guards showed up.

Just as Lui was about to charge at them they fell to the ground, a short girl with blood all over her was standing behind them "You're that snake girl" Drayden said before she pointed to the exit "Go now!" she yelled, no one thought twice about it and ran past her.

Lui was the last out, he looked behind him to see the girl, she was slaughtering any enemy she came across, it was like watching a true demon.

"Lui! Let's go!" Drayden yelled as the boy who set them free was leading them to the harbour.

 **Levy's POV**

It was strange, one minute I was in my cell eating my reward food and ne next minute there was a frail boy with green hair unlocking my cell and telling me to escape.

At first I thought it was a sadistic trick set up by Meowth but as I heard all of the commotion outside I realised, this was my chance for freedom.

And what's the first thing I do with my new found freedom?

Get REVENGE!

I used my thermal detection and quickly found several guards nearby.

When I reached them I realised I knew them, they would throw water on me every morning and would beat me when I refuse to kill my opponents.

They didn't even see me coming before I tore their throats open, spraying blood everywhere, covering me in the process.

I continued this process over and over before I noticed a group of Desolate. Desolate have a slightly hotter body temperature than regular humans so it was easy to tell the difference.

I quickly killed the guards, and saw a polar bear Desolate and a gorilla Desolate standing in front of a group of Desolate, half of them younger than myself.

I looked right at them and pointed to the exit behind me yelling "Go now!" before they all ran past me.

After the last one left I ran right back into battle, slaughtering anyone who came too close.

I eventually reached the battle arena to see the soldiers fighting a group of humans and Desolate.

I was so shocked that I didn't move, never in my sixteen years did I think that humans would be willing to help Desolates… I was ecstatic.

My happiness was cut short when one of the humans helping had their torso sliced open.

That's when I actually got a good look at the ones fighting the guards, they were exhausted and covered in small injuries, some with fatal wounds, but they all continued to fight.

I closed my eyes and used the want I felt to help change my body, morphing until I had turned completely into a snake.

Instead of celebrating my first official transformation I weaved through the crowd, biting the ankles of the guards before gently curling up around the neck of a white haired Desolate who appeared to be the leader.

 **Brendan's POV**

I was giving out orders for my men to not surrender when a snake suddenly draped itself around my neck "What the?" I asked as I reached for it "Stop I'm helping" it said, startling me "Wait… are you the snake Desolate from earlier?" I asked before the man I was fighting fell to the ground "I only gave them a weakened dose of my venom… they won't be out for long but it's long enough so you can get away" she said before slithering towards the exit.

I looked back to my men and picked up one of the injured "Fall back to the ships and set sail!" I yelled as we all ran back to the harbour to see Dawn and Paul had helped all of the Desolate on board and were ready to leave.

We all got on and I quickly set my injured crewman down before rushing to the ships wheel "Set sail! We're off to Rota's capital!" I yelled as not only my crewman cheered but the others on Dawn's ship cheered too.

For now, it looks like we're save, however there was one thing we had all forgotten about.

Two certain Desolate traders who were now tailing us in a ship that was more under the water than it was above the water, making it almost impossible to spot.


	17. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16 – No POV**

Mays eyes slowly opened to reveal that she was once again on Brendan's bed, this time however there was something different.

When she tried to sit up she noticed something next to her.

Sleeping in a chair next to the bed was Drew, he was resting his head on the bed, holding her hand.

May's face turned red before she quickly swiped her hand away, thankfully not waking him up "How long was he here?" she asked herself before looking out the window to see it was night time.

Making sure she didn't wake Drew up, she grabbed a spare blanket and walked onto the deck.

Someone had treated her burns and changed her clothes into the night gown Brendan had given her.

She walked to the ships railing and breathed in the cool night air. She enjoyed the view, the stars were twinkling and the waves against the ship's hull were relaxing "Feeling better?" Brendan asked as he walked up behind her "Oh… yea… it hurts… but nothing like when Mars electrocuted me" she said sadly "Mars?" he questioned.

May's eyes widened, she didn't mean to say Mars' name, May was always careful to not mention her life before Giovanni, but for some reason the charismatic pirate had a way to make her let her guard down.

He leaned in with a serious look "How do you know that woman's name?" he questioned with a slight glare that made May nervous.

She looked away "I'd rather not bring that part of my life up" she said, either keeping her eyes down or looking at the stars.

Brendan eyed her, part of him wanting to get the truth out of her but he knew it was best he didn't say anything on the topic "Okay then Angel" she said teasing her a little "You really like that nickname don't you?" May asked, not impressed, before Brendan pet her head "Can't help it" he admitted before stopping and looking at the door May had emerged from.

May followed his train of vision and saw Drew. May looked back to Brendan to see he was walking back downstairs waving once before disappearing below deck, leaving the two teens on their own.

"So… did we win?" May asked, feeling awkward "Umm… yea, everyone is on Dawn's ship over there" Drew said pointing behind them where Dawns ship could be seen slightly in the distance to not raise suspicion.

Silence fell over them, neither knew what to say.

May just stared out at the ocean while Drew did the same.

"Wow those two suck at this" Levy mumbled to herself as she hung from the main sail, still in snake form. May had actually been asleep for two days now and Levy decided to watch over her, it didn't take long for her to see that her young friend had two eager boys after her heart.

Levy had actually been hiding from the crew for the past two days, she knew her friends were on board, but with everything that happened in the past few weeks and everything she had to do to survive, she felt like May and Chase would think of her as more of a stranger, since after all that's how she saw herself.

Levy looked back down to the two awkward teens "Imma help" she mumbled before slithering over to one of the less important ropes attached to the sail, that already looked loose, and gave it a simple nudge, making it fall and land right next to May, causing her to become startled and stumbled backwards into Drew.

Both of them looked up to see where the rope had fallen from only to see nothing.

May looked over her shoulder to see Drew was holding onto her "Umm Drew you can let go" May said before he quickly let go "Right, sorry" he said quickly said as they returned to their previous silence.

Drew looked down at May and noticed her shaking "Here" he said taking off his jacket "Wait Drew" May started to protest but stopped when he draped the jacket over her shoulders saying "You're cold and still injured… I dint want you to catch a cold" he said as May smiled up at him "Thank you" she said with a blush.

Drew looked away for a split second before looking back at her, they were alone so this was a good a time as any to tell her who he really was.

He looked deep into her eyes and she stared up at him, his eyes looked sad, almost scared "May I" he started but he himself was interrupted "Drew my old friend, my dear old friend" Ash said as he ran onto the deck and hid behind Drew "Ash? The fuck?" Drew growled "Hide me" Ash hissed.

May and Drew had no idea what he'd be hiding from.

The two of them looked to the door Ash had ran from to see Melody, ever since Misty showed up Melody's advances have become more resent and serious, going as far as to try kissing him at the welcome back dinner they had as celebration for freeing a good three dozen Desolate from lives of slavery.

May leaned over to Drew "Who's that?" she asked Drew as Melody ran right past them mumbling "I know he went this way" before running below deck "That would be Melody, she's grown quite affectionate of Ash recently… needless to say, Misty wasn't very happy to meet her… thankfully Brendan was too happy about victory to bother charging us for damage repairs" Drew explained pointing to the large bite mark in the ships railing on the left side of the ship "I was wondering where that came from" May mumbled before looking at Ash "How are you going with this?" she asked as Ash sighed "Misty has been ignoring me since she met Melody, and Melody won't give me any space, I slept in the crow's-nest last night just to get away, it was freezing but totally worth it" he said before curling into a ball "What are you doing?" Drew asked as he held back a laugh "Just cover me with a coat or blanket and I'll happily sleep here" he said "Why don't you just tell her you don't like her?" May asked as Ash shot up and glared slightly at her "Really? I never thought of trying that" he replied, sarcasm dripping from every word.

May sighed "Hey I was just trying to help" she said before taking the jacket off "It's late anyway, goodnight" she said before walking off.

Drew sighed and glared at his best friend "Thanks" he said annoyed, only getting a shrug in response.

Suddenly Drew heard fast footsteps headed towards him.

He turned around just in time for May to grab his face and plant a loving kiss on his forehead "Thanks for saving me" she said before running back to her room.

Drew just stood there, unable to form words, his brain too busy trying to filter what had just happened "What?" he said in a slightly high-pitched tone before turning to Ash "What?" he asked again as Ash laughed slightly at his friends shocked state.

Up on the mast, Levy had almost lost her grip at May's sudden act, Levy's goal was to just get them closer together… to think May would do that. May was generally dense and never noticed all the lustful glances she would get from guys; Levy was somewhat proud that she was noticing at least one boy's feelings.

May flopped onto her bed "I can't believe I just did that" she said mortified "Why did I just do that?" she asked herself, sitting up "I mean… sure he's cute… and mum always said to thank a young man with a kiss on the cheek or forehead… but that was back then when my title made the excuse" she said with a slight voice break.

She exhaled loudly before flopping down onto the bed "What do I say now? Knowing him he'll either not talk about it or tease me every moment he can… oh please let it be the first one" she whined as she shoved a pillow into her face.

She sat back up and hugged the pillow "Where's Levy when you need her?" she asked. She and Levy always used to talk about what guys they found cute, new clothes and new fighting styles they learned from travellers, Levy was like a sister to her… just minus all the sisterly conflicts I'm sure you've all had with your sisters.

Deciding it was a good night May decided to spread her wings for a bit.

She got changed into dark pants and a black blouse with a dark brown vest before opening the large window located in the room.

May leaped out and took off with ease, enjoying the night breeze.

She spotted Drew and Ash talking on deck and decided to leave them alone.

Since it was such a clear night May decided to try something she hadn't done in years.

She shot straight up, high enough before she could feel the air thinning and just stopped, going into freefall. The feeling of freefall was a lot nicer when she actually had enough energy to recover instead of just falling with no hope.

Just before she would hit the water, May spread her wings and skipped across the water, repeating this over and over until she grew bored with it.

She was about to go back to her room but noticed a faint glow in the background, another ship.

At first she thought it was just Dawn's ship, so she flew back towards the ship. She stopped when she realised that Dawn ship was to the left of the ship… the glow was coming from the right.

Part of May knew she was better of going down and getting someone to help, but her stupid side was in control right now and she took a b-line to the glow.

As she got closer she couldn't see anyone on board and it looked as if everyone was asleep.

Although her rational side was saying to go back, he adventurous and curious side continued down and quietly landed on the ship. She folded her wings up but didn't put them away, just in case she had to take off suddenly.

She walked around the deck for a few minutes but nothing happened "Hello?" she called out as she walked around a little more "Do you mind?" a tired voice asked from behind her.

May's eye's widened, she knew that voice.

May turned around and stepped back a little "Delia?" she asked, the fear in her voice accidental, she knew that Delia was helping them but the last time she saw this woman, she was going to sell her as a slave.

Delia's eyes widened "May?" she asked as she tilted her head, half asleep so she wasn't believing her eyes. "We already caught up?" she asked shocked before rubbing her eyes "Umm yea… I guess you did" May said awkwardly.

Delia looked around "Where's your ship?" she asked "Not far from here… Ash is there too" May said knowing Delia would want to know about her son "Does he know?" she asked with fear hidden in a sad tone.

May hesitated "I don't know… I've been comatose for a few days so I don't know if anyone told him or not" May admitted "Oh" Delia replied sadly "Does Chase know you're coming?" May asked as Delia gave her a strange look "No not Chase… I'm meeting a pirate in Rota's capital city" she said calmly.

May froze… she had a strange feeling "What's the pirates name?" she asked sceptically. Delia gave her an odd look "His name is Brendan Birch… do you know him?" she asked.

May tilted her head "Excuse me Delia I must go and converse with someone, I will tell Brendan of your early arrival and go yell at someone, please enjoy the rest of the night to sleep" she said before zooming off to the boat and landing on the deck with a loud bang "What the hell?" Drew asked as he and Ash were terrified by her sudden arrival.

May tucked her wings away and stomped below deck to find a certain someone who was currently the source of her annoyance.


	18. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

 **Brendan's POV**

I don't know why I left the two of them alone… I mean she was there… and then he just showed up… why did I walk away?

I pondered this over and over as I turned slightly in my hammock, trying to get comfortable.

I had finally managed to relax when the door opened, I thought it was just a crew member coming in or out so I just ignored it… however when my hammock was turned over and I went face first on the ground I figured it was something bad.

I looked up to my attacker to see May with a scary smile on her face "Brendan… we need to talk" she said in a calm tone that only made her scarier. I stood up and we walked onto the deck, I could see Drew and Ash not far from us but May seemed to ignore them. "What did you want to talk about?" I asked before she stopped.

"Why didn't you tell me?" she asked as I was genuinely confused "Tell you what?" I asked as I could have sworn I heard sadness in her tone "I told you about me… I told you about what I went through to get to this point" she said as I walked over to us.

I reached out to her, but just as I touched her shoulder she slapped it away "So why the fuck didn't you tell us that you were working with Delia!?" she yelled angrily as she turned around to face me, wanting answers. I looked away from her, avoiding her eye contact. I had planned on telling her when we reached Rota as a happy surprise… but now because I didn't tell her she found out and is obviously pissed at me.

 **Drew's POV**

Fucking what!?

Brendan was working with Delia? When was he going telling us?

I walked over to May and Brendan, I wanted answers… but I was also scared… this was the type of situation I'm scared of being in with her, her mad at me for finding out about something I didn't tell her.

"Why didn't you tell me?" May asked as she began to calm down… to a degree. Brendan sighed "I was planning on telling you when we got to Rota… you know a surprise, a big reveal… I guess that's ruined now" he said as May's anger turned into guilt "You were?" she asked as I just looked at her, she just went form "I'm gonna tear you a new one!" to "I'm so sorry" in .2 seconds!

Brendan sighed "The truth is… I'm actually part of Rota's naval fleet… I just put on the ruse of pirate so other countries don't attack us when we constantly free Desolate from other countries" he said as he pulled down his collar down to show a small black wing over his heart "I'm sorry I never told you" he said as he looked wounded. Without another word May hugged him, he was shocked at first but hugged her back after a short time.

For a second it seemed as if everything was fine... until "What?!" Ash yelled stomping over to us and holding Brendan's collar "You're working for my mother?!" he yelled.

That's when I realised… because of everything that happened… I didn't get a chance to tell him about his mother… oops.

"Why are you working for her? Did she send you to rescue all these Desolate to use as slaves?" Ash asked, his nails turned to claws as his half lion form was appearing.

Before anything further could happen I intervened "Ash your mothers on our side" I said as I couldn't think of any other way of telling him other than the direct truth "What?" he asked as he almost bit at me "She never told you, that way you always thought she was the bad guy, she wanted you to" I said seriously as this is what I had concluded over the past few days after finding out the truth from Misty and Chase "She what?" Ash asked as tears threatened to fall "I don't know why but by pretending to be the bad guy she was hiding the truth from you, what that truth is? I don't know but it must be something big if she went to the trouble of deceiving you for so many years" I said as he just stood there.

He finally let go of Brendan and looked down "Why? Why would she do that?" he mumbled, directed mainly to himself as he wracked his brain for any possible answer.

 **May's POV**

I'm an idiot, if I had kept my big mouth shut then he wouldn't know Ash wouldn't have acted that way.

"Are you okay?" I whispered to Brendan as he rubbed his neck "Yea… but the guy's got a good grip" Brendan said with a slight chuckle to defuse the tension.

I sighed and took Brendan aside "How long is it until we get to Rota anyway?" I asked as Drew stayed with Ash "We should be there by morning… depending on how strong the wind is" he said as I looked back to Delia's ship "I think we're better off holding back the mother sin reunion until were on land" I said before glancing at Ash "I think you're right" Brendan mumbled, looking down at me with a warm smile "What?" I asked.

We arrived in Rota's capital city of Larent a little after sunrise, fishermen were getting up to head out for the early morning catch and animal handlers were tending to their pets. Somehow the whole city had a calming effect, so calming I almost let my wings out.

"I always love it here" Brendan said from next to me.

He and I were the only ones awake so he offered to take me for a tour of the city, since the rest of the crew were all exhausted.

Nothing was open yet so he decided to show me some of the sceneries and attractions the city had to offer.

We reached a large cliff that overlooked the while city and harbour "Wow it's beautiful" I said with a bright smile. I looked over to Brendan to see him looking down at the city lovingly, I was about to ask him if this was maybe where he was born but my stomach interrupted be with a growl "Hungry?" he asked smugly "Uh yea" I said with a bit of embarrassment and a light blush. He chuckled at my sudden change of behaviour "I saw an apple tree on our way up here, stay here and I'll bring us some" he said before he started heading down.

I smiled and turned around to sit on the grass but when I did, someone was already there.

It was a woman.

She had long wavy platinum blonde hair that, since she was sitting down, was touching the ground. Sprouting from her back was a beautiful set of white wings, making her look like an angel.

"So why are you here?" she suddenly asked, startling me as I didn't think she was going to actually talk. I looked around for Brendan to see he was still walking down "Is he a friend of yours?" she asked as she looked over at him, allowing for me to see her face.

She was beautiful, she truly looked like an angel now "Umm yea… we are" I said a little unsure as this woman did pretty much appear out of nowhere "I'm Rin, mind if I ask your name?" she asked as she motioned for me to sit next to her "May" I said as I obligated her silent request.

Silence fell over us before I realised that she was freely showing her wings on a cliff, visible for anyone in town "Aren't you scared of Desolate traders?" I asked worried. She looked at me confused before sighing "Oh I get it now, you're from another country aren't you?" she asked with a smile "Yea… why?" I asked as she sighed happily "This is Rota… here slavery is illegal for everyone, here the humans and Desolate live in harmony, discrimination to either is punished with a fine, a small but reasonable one" she said warmly.

"Hey May!" Brendan yelled as he walked up holding a few apples.

I turned to Rin only to see that she was gone, just as fast as she appeared, she disappeared.

"What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost" he said with a chuckle "May?" he asked as I didn't respond to his joke "You alright?" he asked "Yea just hungry I guess" I said as he handed me an apple and we sat down next to each other.

 **Ash's POV**

I was trying my hardest to not laugh. Drew was sitting on the ships deck staring up at a cliff with a moody look on his face. His tail had appeared and was tapping on the deck like a foot would when someone is impatient.

Apparently May and Brendan left the ship a while ago to tour the town, now having stopped on top of a cliff, thanks to Drew's wolf eyes he could clearly see the two of them.

"Drew your jealousy is showing" I commented but only got a growl in return "Has May gone off with Brendan again?" Misty asked as she walked up next to me "Uh… yea" I said nervously.

Ever since she got back we've been in an awkward situation. Melody still flirts and follows me and Misty has been ignoring me, those seven words was the most she had said to me in days. I was not passing up this opportunity to mend things.

"Misty I-HIDE ME!" I whisper yelled as I saw Melody looking over to our ship "Really?" Misty asked with a hiss as if I were the one flirting with someone else "What? I told her I wasn't interested and she only increased on her advances" I whined "Don't worry Ash, she just wants to say goodbye" Dawn said as she walked onto the ship "What do you mean?" I asked hopefully "Paul and I are finished here, we saved the kids and many more, so we're headed back to Leaf and Gary" she said as a massive smile spread across my face "Really?" I asked as my fear and annoyance was now happiness and joy.

"Wait are you leaving right now?" Drew asked, looking up over his shoulder to her "Yea, there's a storm coming in and if we don't leave soon we'll be caught in it" she said before shovelling around in her bag "I almost forgot" she mumbled before handing us three envelopes "What are these?" Misty asked "My mother is throwing a party in a few weeks, Desolate and humans are invited, the maids dress you when you arrive so don't worry about clothes, and there is no discrimination allowed" she said before looking at Drew "Maybe if you ask nicely, May would come as your date" she said smugly as Drew looked away from us, tail wagging, showing he was actually happy with the thought.

I smiled at Dawn "We'll be sure to make it" I said as Misty hugged her goodbye "Have a safe trip home… and make sure Paul stays out of trouble" I said as I heard an annoyed grumble from behind Dawn "Don't worry, I will" Dawn said as she hugged her boyfriend's arm.

I walked over to Paul and put my hand out "It was nice meeting you Paul, I hope to see each other again soon" I said before he grabbed my hand "I could say the same" he replied before Drew got up and also said goodbye before returning to his spot only to see that May and Brendan had left.

 **Brendan's POV**

We just sat there, enjoying the ocean breeze as we looked down at Larnet as the town began to burst to life "It's so peaceful here" she commented as I hummed in agreement "It always has been" I said as I looked at her.

The winds was lightly blowing her hair around and the morning light gave her a radiant glow, it got me thinking, how old was she? She looked young but often acted rather mature "Hey May?" I asked hoping I wasn't about to insult her "Yea?" she asked absentmindedly "I hope this doesn't sound rude… but how old are you?" I asked hesitantly.

She was a little surprised at my question before smirking "Why Brendan, don't you know it's rude to ask a lady's age?" she asked smugly but I kept my ground "Yes but you're not a lady" I said before she playfully hit me "Wow thanks" she said with a laugh.

It went silent for a moment before she spoke up "Sixteen" she said before looking at me "I'm sixteen" she said with a smile. It surprised me to say the least, sure she acted immature from time to time but for most of the time I've known her she acts a lot older. She tilted her head "What? You thought I was older?" she asked curiously "Uh… yea I guess I did" I admitted "Well, when you live your life on the run you tend to grow up faster than you'd expect" she said blankly. She smirked at me again "So? Come on, how old is Mr Suave Pirate who's actually a Noble Navy Man?" she asked causing me to chuckle "Believe it or not I'm actually twenty three" I said with a chuckle.

She looked at me surprised "Twenty three? I'd have guessed something in the late teens" she admitted "I'll take that as a compliment" I said with a chuckle as I stood up "Where are you going?" she asked before I pointed down at my ship "Looks like something's happening down there, we should head back now anyway" I said as I started walking. She glanced back at the ship before running after me.

As we walked I couldn't help but feel awkward. I glanced at her, she was so calm it was almost worrying, but I was more focused on what happened before, there was seven years between us… because of how she acts I thought she was older, I mean sure there are royals and nobles marrying women over ten years younger than themselves but… it still felt weird to have these feelings for her when she's almost a decade younger than me.

I was snapped out of my train of thought when May yelled out "Dawn you aren't leaving without saying goodbye are you?" as Dawn turned around, having about to give the order to leave before May interrupted.

Dawn quickly walked down and hugged May "Sorry, but we're in a hurry" she apologised before they looked at each other "When do I next get to see you?" she asked before Dawn pulled out an envelope and giving it to me "You can see me in a few weeks for my mother's party, I hope you can make it" she said kindly.

Paul suddenly came off the ship and picked Dawn up bridal style "Come on miss chatty, any longer and we'll be caught in the storm" he said calmly despite Dawns struggling.

They got onto their ship and set sail back to Lar-fisto.

Just as they were far enough away to not turn back but close enough to hear us, May yelled "When you get married you better invite me!" earning a blush from both young teens.

Amazing how she can see their love but can't notice her own or others around her.


	19. Chapter 18

As an apology for not updating for a _**LONG**_ time, this chapter is slightly longer than the previous chapters and I will be adding more chapters soon.

So Enjoy :)

 **Chapter 18 – NO POV**

May and Brendan stood at the dock, watching as Dawn's ship sailed off into the distance "Well I'm off" Brendan suddenly said, confusing May "What? Where?" she asked, fully facing him. Brendan sighed "The queen will want to see me, I have to give her a report on what happened" he said annoyed, apparently most of his duties as a royal navy man are rather annoying, boring, or both.

May smiled at him "Well good luck with that" she said with a cheeky smile and turning around to Brendan's own ship, whom was sighing happily at her retreating figure. He turned to the castle and mumbled "Please don't flip too much" before he began to walking.

May had reached the ship easily but to a rather interesting sight.

Drew was sitting on a barrel, cross legged and staring at her in his half wolf form "What's up with Drew?" she asked Misty, whom was standing near her with Ash, back in their lovey dovey mode "Loverboy was jealous cause you spent the morning with Brendan" Misty answered with a snicker as Ash stifled a laugh when Drew glared at her "Well okay then" May said as she didn't know how to answer that.

The three were suddenly startled by Chase landing on the deck right in front of them, wings spread out, having caught the wind to slow his decent onto the ship's deck "Chase!" May said annoyed before he looked over to them, hands full of bread and fruits "Where did you get those?" Ash asked with a raised eyebrow "The locals, they were so nice to me, they said that my wings were very big and pretty" Chase said like a giddy three-year-old 'He's finally acting like his old self' May thought with a smile as she watched him throw a grape up and catch it in his mouth.

Although they had a point, since Chase is an Eagle Desolate, his wings are considerably bigger than other types of bird Desolate, this apparently being both a blessing and a curse. He can fly and manoeuvre fast and stop easily but has trouble in thick forests and small spaces where his wings can't stretch out fully.

"So where is Brendan?" Chase asked as he looked around for him "He's gone to talk with the queen… from what I heard, it's not exactly fun" May said with a slight laugh at Brendan's expense.

Brendan smoothed out his hair, trying to look as presentable as possible in his pirate disguise "Your majesty, General Birch is here" the queen's attendant said before opening the doors to allow Brendan access to the throne room. The queen was wearing a long blue ballgown and a veil over her head with her long blonde hair flowing from under it "Brendan" the queen said simply, but with a slight tone of anger "Yes your majesty?" Brendan asked as he bowed to her "It has come to my attention that not only are you late with your return but you seem to have picked up several strangers" she said as anger was definitely showing now. Brendan stood up straight and cleared his throat "After completing my objective in Quincy's capital, we were heading back when a girl fell from the sky" he explained as the queen tilted her head slightly, indicating that she was interested.

"She had been flying for several hours and gave out, landing in the ocean not far from the ship so I helped her… I then found out that several Desolate had been kidnapped and taken to Lorcan to fight in a gladiator arena… one thing lead to another and we ended up helping her and her friends save over two dozen Desolate, a third of whom were children under the age of ten" Brendan said, his head high as he stood by his actions.

The queen hummed "While that is an amazing feat… we are still engaging in a silent war and you decided to escorted several foreigners to our countries capital, for all you know the whole thing was set up and their actually Implants sent to follow you" she said seriously as she leaned forward slightly.

Brendan wasn't sure what to say, while he did trust the group he accompanied, he also couldn't say with complete honesty that he trusted them… well most of them.

Noticing her general's nervousness, she sighed "Alright, you introduce me to this girl and one or two of her fiends... I'll see what I think after that" she said before standing up and walking off, no word of dismissal for Brendan.

Tension was growing thick back at the ship.

Not long after May had gotten back they had a visitor, Delia.

Ash was the first to react "How dare you!" he yelled, storming over to her. Delia looked away saddened "How dare you" Delia looked at Ash when he didn't finish his sentence "How dare you… make me hate you" Ash said before grabbing his mother and hugging her. Delia was shocked for words, she half expected him to scream in her face until she sailed home… but this?

Ash hugged her tighter "Why?" his voice broke as he asked her this, a single tear forming "I… I wanted to shield you from the truth… making you hate me was the easiest thing" she admitted "I'm sorry… I'm sorry" Ash repeated.

The mother and son stayed like that for a short time more before eventually breaking apart "So… are you going to tell me this horrible truth that was so important that you had to hide it?" he asked as Misty walked up next to them "Umm" Delia said, looking around. She looked back at the two "Is there anywhere more private?" she asked.

So, she, Ash, Misty, May, Drew and Chase all headed into the captain's quarters "So what's this big thing?" Ash said as everyone got comfortable.

Delia sighed again before looking him dead in the eye "Aaron is here, in the capital working close with the queen". Ash was shocked sure… but it wasn't much of a scandalous secret to cover up "Is that all?" Misty asked. Delia looked away "No… you see… Ash your father… how do I say this… he… umm" you could tell she was nervous and was still reluctant to tell Ash the truth "Mum it's fine… you can tell me" Ash said as he held his mother's hand to reassure her "Okay… as you know your father disappeared when you and Aaron were young, but you idolized him… not long after the Great Plague he started experimenting on orphan Desolate children's DNA to made a drug or tablet to use the natural abilities animals have that regular humans have evolved from…by the time the Great Plague had reached Lar-fisto, he was at the capital pitching his idea to several nobles, by the time he got back you and your brother had already become Desolate… as he continued his experiments I got more and more worried that he would find out about you two and use you in the experiment… so I kicked him out, I knew that you and Aaron idolized your father and part of me thought he could go back to the way he was before… so I became the bad guy… the reason I posed as a Desolate trader was so he wouldn't become suspicious of the two of you… when the crowned prince of Quincy died, your fathers research was approved and the king began funding his research" she explained before looking out to the sea from the large window "So I began working with the Queen of Rota, gathering intel on the king and helping any Desolate I can" she finished as Ash just stared at her, wide eyed, his whole world shaken.

It went uncomfortably silent before Drew spoke up "What about the silent war? Did the king not notice you coming and going from Rota and back?" he asked suspiciously. Delia raised an eyebrow at him "How do you know of the silent war?" she asked "I hear things" Drew said simply, not wanting to reveal anything else. Delia knew exactly who he was, she just played along with the whole "Hi I'm Drew Hayden, the homeless flirty Desolate" act he had going on.

"What's the silent war?" May asked as she and Chase were the only two in the room who didn't know "The silent war is a fight going on between Rota and Quincy, while Rota's queen wants equal rights for everyone, the king of Quincy refuses this and thinks the Desolate are just god's way of giving him and his people slaves… so both have subordinates that are sent on recon missions to each country to either assassinate someone, gather information or to stir up some trouble" Delia explained as Chase and May nodded, surprised that they had kept a massive thing away from the publics knowledge.

Chase got a curious look on his face "Wait, if it's secret… how do you know about it?" he asked.

Delia glanced at Drew before looking back at Chase "Well I'm sure you know by now that Drew" she started before Drew cut her off "I worked in the castle, as a butler, so I overheard a lot of things" he said begore glaring slightly at Delia who was apologetic for some reason. Ash spoke up "I was requested by the king to serve as the personal attendant to one of the princes, the crown prince… Aaron had disappeared the week before so I was reluctant… but I quickly befriended the prince and met Drew not long later, we would often sneak into town where we eventually met Misty, not long after that she also became an attendant to the prince" he explained before looking back at Delia "So we both knew of the war almost immediately entering the castle staff" he finished as May stared at them, she knew Ash worked in the castle for a while, but to think that he was the attendant to Quincy's next ruler.

'Next ruler' May thought before looking at Ash "You were friends with the prince, he's the next ruler of the country… if we just wait for him to become king we can do this without bloodshed" she said with hope in her eyes… only for it to be snuffed out at the unwariness in the eyes of those around her "That prince was announced dead almost a year ago… he's no longer eligible for the throne, the next ruler is prince N… he's known for being a lot like his father and if he succeeds the throne nothing will change" Delia said sadly.

An eerie silence fell over them.

It didn't last long however as loud footsteps came towards them before the door was slammed open "May!" Brendan yelled before leaning on his knees and gasping for air "Brendan? What happened?" Misty asked as May helped Brendan over to a chair "The queen… she's worried that you guys might be spies for king Nathaniel" he said as he caught his breath "What? Why?" Chase asked, feeling a little insulted.

Brendan looked at the group seriously "She's afraid you guys are Implants" "Implants?" May asked "Human's given drugs that temporary give them Desolate abilities… it was developed by King Nathaniel's doctors" Delia said with slight disgust "He can do that?" Chase asked shocked and slightly scared. Brendan sighed "She's invited May to dinner with one or two of you guys to accompany her" he said simply "If it means she'll trust us then I'm more than happy to go" May said almost immediately "Then I'll accompany her" Drew said only for it to be shot down "No I think we're better off sending our rare desolate with her" Brendan said "What do you mean?" Misty asked, knowing it wasn't her since both she and Brendan were shark Desolate and the queen wouldn't be all too impressed. "I mean, the two who should go with her are Chase and that snake girl" he said as they all looked at him like he was crazy "Snake? You know the last time we saw her was back in Lorcan" Ash said as Brendan gave him a confused look "What? Then who's been sleeping in the Crowsnest?" he asked before Chase ran outside and spread his wings, jumping strongly for a quick take off, before landing on the edge of the Crowsnest.

There, fast asleep, was Levy. She had small scars on her arms and legs, obviously from her arena battles, and her hair was so much shorter than the last time he saw her "Levy" he whispered as he shook her shoulder slightly.

She groaned and turned over mumbling "5 more minutes" and relaxing for a fraction of a second before her eyes snapped open "AHHHHHHH!" she yelled, shocked that there was someone there, before turning into her snake form and jumping out, towards the water.

Just before hitting said water, May swooped down and caught her "What the hell is wrong with you? You idiot!" May yelled as she dropped Levy on the deck.

Levy looked around to see that the others had come up on deck and were ready if she tried to run.

Admitting defeat, Levy turned back to her human form and looked at her two friends ashamed "Why did you hide from us?" May asked, hurt that Levy had done what she did. "I'm not the same… not the same person you know… knew… I've killed others to save my own skin" she said, looking away "So what?" Chase asked, shocking Levy with his calm answer "What?" she asked, thinking her ears were playing tricks on her "So what? You did that to survive… nobody can blame you for that" he said as May and Chase trapped her in a hug "Well… that's as long as you haven't gone full blown psycho we'll welcome you with open arms" May said with a smirk "Really?" Levy asked, feeling like a little kid asking permission for something "Always" Chase said as he squeezed Levy tighter, May sneakily letting go and carefully stepping back so they wouldn't notice.

But then she froze… Levy was on the mast and Crowsnest for the past few days… meaning she was the one who dropped the rope.

A dark look fell over May's face as she walked back up to her two friends "Levy" she said, getting her attention "Yea?" Levy asked calmly before noticing the menacing look May was giving her "By any chance, did you drop a rope on me last night?" she asked as Levy laughed awkwardly "What on earth would make you think that May?" she asked as she hid behind Chase slightly "Hey don't use me as a shield" Chase complained before turning back to May to see her right in front of him.

Chase yelped slightly and in turn hid behind Levy "Traitor" she mumbled to him before looking back at May. She held her hands up "Now May, the only reason I did that was because you and Drew were being so cute… and if it wasn't for the guy with black hair over there, you two would have had the cutest moment ever" she said as she tried to calm May down. She semi completed this, May was too busy being embarrassed to be angry at Levy now 'It worked' Levy thoughted as she and Chase both let out a relieved sigh.

"Why am I wearing this?!" Levy yelled annoyed as she walked out onto the deck of Delia's ship wearing an elegant mint coloured dress that covered her scars but showed off her neck, where her desolate mark was, on the right.

It's a little hard to explain what her mark looks like but it's dark green and somewhat resembles a snake.

Her hair, although short, had a beautiful ornament in it, holding up a half ponytail as not all her hair could go up.

May walked out after her in a backless frilly gown that obviously showed off her Desolate mark as well but still hiding her own scars "I'll have to second that" she mumbled as she played with the strands of hair that were left loose form the bun her hair was put into.

Brendan sighed "You're having dinner with royalty, and the queen more importantly, so you need to dress formally as to not appear rude… remember if for one second she thinks you're a threat to her country she won't hesitate to kill you" Brendan said as he fiddled with his cufflinks "Wait, royalty… as in it's not just the queen?" May asked, feeling the pressure now "Well of course, it will be the queen, her fiancé, a few nobles and the queen's cousin Lady Nichole who is visiting for a few days" he said calmly as he helped Chase with his cravat "Why so many? And how are you so calm?" Levy asked as she tried to adjust her corset "I've been a part of the army since I was fifteen, you're use to these sorts of things after eight years of it" he said with a slight chuckle "Well that's reassuring" Levy mumbled.

"Alright guys, the carriage is here, at the end of the night the carriage will come back for you and will be taking you to the house I have here in town, while you're at dinner the maids are cleaning it up… haven't been there in a while and I'm told the dust is more than covering everything" Delia said with a sigh towards the end.

Ash the four of them rode to the castle May remembered back to the last time she was in a carriage, it was back in Lar-fisto… when Delia had tried to get her and Drew to go on a date but it was ruined when Leaf showed up, she continued to ponder on the events of the past few weeks as she stared out the window as all the shops were closing and the bars and restaurants were getting ready for the dinner rush.

"We're here" Brendan said as the door was opened by the footman.

They stepped out of the carriage and up the palace steps "You alright?" Brendan asked as he and May walked behind Levy and Chase "I feel a little strange with my mark out like this… I only found out about it a few weeks ago but since it's what identifies a Desolate… I feel uneasy… like I'm on display" she said looking down embarrassed. Brendan smiled down at her warmly "Don't worry, you look so beautiful that they won't even notice your mark" he said making her pink cheeks turn red "Oh shut up" she mumbled under her breath, earning a laugh from the young man next to her.

They reached the doors to the dining room and one of the butlers opened the doors "Your majesty, General Birch and his guests have arrived" he said as they walked in "Lovely" the queen said kindly as the four of them were directed to the four empty seats near the queen.

To all those N fans out there, I apologies but he is one of the antagonists, feel free to spam me with complaints :)


	20. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19 – May's POV**

To say that I was nervous would be a HUGE understatement.

Not only am I surrounded by a bunch of strangers but I'm seated closest to the queen.

I was so nervous I didn't hear the queen when she said "So if you don't mind me asking, what kinds of Desolate are the three of you?" "I'm an eagle… and Levy here is a snake" Chase said as his usual charismatic personality wasn't allowing him to feel nervous or intimidated by the high-ranking people "A snake? My that's amazing… what sort of abilities to you have?" a woman who was obviously a cat Desolate as her ears were showing "Umm… I can sense body temperatures… and… I have venom" she said a little embarrassed at the woman's fascination "Venom? My that's amazing" she mused before looking at me "Oh I'm a bat" I replied a little panicked.

Everyone stopped eating "You're a bat?" the queen asked from behind her veil "Yes… oh yea I forget that it's rare" I said as a slight blush spread across my cheeks "Well yes but… you're well known here" a young woman said from the other side of the table.

She had long platinum blonde hair and purple eyes, long lashes, full lips, and her skin so soft you would think she was make of porcelain, she was the very definition of beauty.

"I am?" I asked "Yes, the Desolate trader by the name of Giovanni has abducted dozens of Desolate from our country so we always try to keep tabs on him… when we found out that a young girl who was barely into her teens escaped him we were surprised to say the least" she said as she looked at me like I was some hero "Umm… Lady Nichole… your ears are showing" Brendan said with an amused smirk.

The young woman I now knew was Nichole reached up and felt that a pair of longish ears on top of her head "Oh sorry" she said with a blush "So you're a deer?" Chase asked, shocking a few people "Yes how did you know?" Nichole asked "I didn't go to school but my father taught me everything he knew about animals and how to identify them, for instance May is actually a fruit bat, it's why she likes apples and oranges so much" he said simply as I just stared at him, having not actually known this fact before.

"Would you mind giving us a demonstration of your power after we eat?" the queen asked, catching me and the others off guard. I glanced at Levy and Chase "I don't see why not" Levy said lazily "Sure it could be fun" Chase answered so I just nodded "Splendid" the queen chimed as the maids began to serve the main course.

We continued in small talk for most of the meal and through most of desert before the queen asked "So May, how is it that you know such advanced table etiquette?" I froze, I was doing it out of habit, all those lessons my mother made me take as a kid have become an annoying habit when I see the full set of knives and forks that the rich use.

I was going to lie… but I need this woman to trust me, which means I'm going to have to explain… a lot "I was the daughter of a noble back in Quincy… at one point during the twenty year plague I caught it… I also infected several staff members, most of whom died and those who survived stayed with us, my parents were two of the few nobles that didn't think Desolate were lower class… when the king found out he had my home burnt down and everyone killed. My brother, who was only a toddler at the time, was proven to be healthy and was sent to an orphanage in a town called Marlow… I had managed to escape the fire and made my way to the next town over where I found out where they took my brother… I travelled for two days before I was captured by a group of Desolate hunters, after realising I was useless as far as goods go, they gave me to Giovanni" I paused as I looked at the audience, they were all staring at me, including Levy and Chase, I had never told them about my childhood before Giovanni.

The queen tilted her head, I couldn't tell what she was feeling as the veil she wore covered her face "What happened after that… if you don't mind me asking?" she asked as I was a little surprised "Well, after enduring three years with that man I escaped, a year later, on my thirteenth birthday, I met Levi and her family not long after that and they took me to Marlow, I found my brother but since I was only thirteen I wasn't exactly allowed to take him, so I stayed there in the orphanage" I paused as the memories of that place rushed back into my mind, if someone had told me that I would one day be having dinner with a queen I'd have called then crazy… but here I was.

Levy cleared her throat and continued for me "While there she met Chase and we all got rather well acquainted. A few months ago it all changed though, I had been discovered as a Desolate and since Marlow's citizens had a lot of hatred for us they chased me down and burned down our house, she and Chase tried to help me but I told them to run. My parents were killed, in that fire and I was given to a slave trader" she explained before Chase took over "May and I took refuge with a woman named Lady Parrington, she gave us supplies and even diverted someone whom I now realise must have been Giovanni… we eventually ran into a few Desolate hunters and were helped by a small group of Desolate, we travelled with them for a while before ending up at Lady Delia Ketchum's house" he explained "Lady Delia? How did you end up there?" the queen asked "Her son Ash was one of the people who helped us" I explained "Anyway a lot of stuff went down and my sister Leaf showed up, I hadn't seen her I years after a group of hunters killed my other sister for her feathers, and she tried to warn us of Delia whom as far as she knew was a Desolate Trader" Chase said with a slight laugh at the memory "Chase was approached by Lady Delia to go undercover to Lar-fisto, the rest of us didn't know about the plan and we foolishly tried to go after him… that's when I met Brendan, he helped us out and we rescued dozens of Desolate from fighting in gladiator battles against each other, one of whom was Levy" I finished as I personally couldn't believe all that happened in such a short time.

Brendan cleared his throat "So your majesty what do you think?" he asked as I just stared at him, he just out right asked her, he didn't care that we were there. The queen laughed a little "I believe them… I'll be seeing Delia tomorrow anyway to confirm this, but I personally don't think it will be necessary" she said in a happy voice before removing her veil.

I gasped… it was the woman from earlier today. She giggled a little at my reaction "I'm sorry for not telling you earlier, but I had to be sure you weren't spies sent to infiltrate my kingdom" she said before smiling warmly at me "But if you don't mind, the castle physician is here so I hope you don't mind he take a look at you three" she said kindly "Why would he have to?" Levy asked before Rin diverted her eyes "Well… I wasn't sure if I could trust you so I had the chef put something in your food that nullifies the pills King Nathaniel has given his soldiers to become inserts, fake Desolate" she said nervously "Why would we need to be checked out?" Chase asked as he put his cutlery down "Well I don't know what it does to regular Desolate so I had him be ready for anything" she said as a man walked in "All you need to do is release your transformation and keep it up so I can check for anything alarming" he said as he seemed to have an aura of kindness.

Levy and Chase didn't move, obviously unsure of the whole situation.

I sighed and stood up "Just show them, we all need to trust each other so what's the harm?" I asked as Chase and Levy gave each other a worried look before standing up with me and we walked over to the physician.

Chase and I just let out our wings while Levy turned her skin to black and red scales. The other guests were shocked by mine and Levy's appearances, I guess we really are rare.

After being given the all clear, we returned to the table.

At first it was a little awkward but we eventually continued with small talk, like what foods we've tried or the upcoming festival that will be held in the capital in a week "What will the festival be celebrating?" Chase asked "It's the anniversary of the day both humans and Desolate were given equal rights here in Rota, so everyone gets the day off work to go, the only ones who work are the dancers and merchants who are trying to sell their goods" Brendan said with a large smile, he obviously likes the festival "Brendan and I use to do dance performance when we were little" Lady Nichole said as she and Brendan laughed "Aww that's so cute" I commented as they both laughed "No it was atrocious, Brendan would always forget the moves and I would end up messing up from stage fright" she said as they both laughed "She still does it though, it's why she's here, and don't worry she's a lot better now" Brendan said through his laughter "We should go see it together" he added after they had both stopped laughing. However as he said that I noticed that for a split second Nichole looked hurt.

I smiled at him "How about we all go, I know Drew would find the crowds annoying" I said cheekily as he pouted slightly for a second before smiling down at me "Sure why not?" he asked. "Drew?" Rin asked suddenly "Yes, he's Ash's best friend" I explained "So how many others are there in your group?" she asked "Only three" Chase answered. Rin smiled "I'd like to meet them, how does tomorrow morning sound?" she asked. Chase, Levy and I knew there was something up, but since we were in her castle and country we obliged "We would be happy to your majesty" Chase answered.

"I don't get it… I thought the purposes of last night was to meet the queen… why does she want to meet us?" Ash asked as he and Misty walked hand in hand behind the rest of us "It was, but she wants to meet all of us, she also wants to personally meet you Ash since she knows your mother, apparently, Delia has told her stories" I said as we got close to the castle "Are you sure we can trust her?" Drew asked as he seemed fidgety "She's just cautious… why are you wearing that anyway?" I asked him. He was wearing a hood that blocked view from the sides of his face "I'm also being cautious" he said simply as he kept looking straight ahead.

I sighed, I thought we had gotten past the faze whre he blocked me out… guess not.

We arrived at the castle and were quickly welcomed by a maid and guided to the main hall where Rin was apparently organising a few things for a ball "Your Majesty?" I asked as she turned to me with a smile "Oh May I told you to just call me Rin" she replied and walked over to us with a happy smile.

Suddenly, without warning, she froze "Guards!" she yelled out, fear in her voice.

We were all confused as to what was going on.

The guards rushed in and awaited their orders "Seize that boy!" she yelled, pointing directly at Drew.

We all reacted quickly by transforming but the guards were quicker, all of us were held back with little to no effort on their part.

Drew was forced to the ground and his cloak was torn off.

Rin took one of the soldier's swords and held it to Drew's neck and saying "Tell me why the crowned prince of Quinton is here".


	21. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20 – No POV**

 **WARNING:** If you have not read the previous chapter make sure you do otherwise this is major spoilers

 **10 years ago**

"Get back here your-highness!" a castle guard yelled at a young prince with green hair and emerald eyes "Catch me if you can!" he yelled back as he skidded around a corner and into a bush, successfully hiding from his pursuer.

The young boy laughed cheekily when the guard ran past. He was about to get out of the bush to find another hiding spot but something grabbed the back of his collar. In one swift pull, the young boy was yanked out of the bush and held in the air "Really your highness?" a male voice asked. The boy turned his head to see his capturer was his personal guard, he'd been appointed a week ago and already knew the prince more than most.

"Let me go!" the prince yelled as he flailed his arms and legs around uselessly "I don't care what you say your highness, you are going to this dinner weather you like it or not" the man said with a sigh and started walking towards the prince's room.

The young prince folded his arms as they continued to walk, getting a few odd looks from the maids and guards.

The man holding the prince sighed "Honestly Prince Andrew… what kind of kid doesn't want to go to his own eighth birthday party?" he asked as the boy turned to glare at him "Because I don't know most of the people who are there Peter… and how many times do I have to tell you to just call me Drew?" he mumbled as the young man sighed again "Well maybe if you didn't run away so much then you could actually get to know them… and I have to call you by your title" he tried to reason, the prince having none of it.

Drew flopped his arms down "Everyone there are adults that just want to get to know me cause dad said I'm next in line for the throne" he mumbled. Peter was actually impressed, although Drew was young he was clearly aware of what was going on.

They reached Drew's room only to find two maids glaring angrily at him "Your Majesty! You were supposed to be here half an hour ago!" they yelled in unison "Umm… fashionably late?" Drew asked as Peter put him down.

The maids gave him no chance of running again as they grabbed his arms and dragged him into the room and closing the door, leaving Peter to stand guard. Several minutes passed before the doors opened to reveal Drew in his ball attire and his hair styled "Was that so hard?" Peter asked mockingly "Shut up" Drew mumbled before he started walking towards the ball room, knowing that since Peter was so close he had no chance of running away.

"Announcing Crown Prince Andrew Quinton and his personal guard Peter Hanson!" the announcer called as Drew and Peter walked into the ball room.

It was just like Drew had expected, slow music and people either talking politics, gossip or who Drew could marry in the future. The whole thing annoyed Drew immensely and if it were up to him he'd be having a party with kids his age… this is supposed to be his birthday party yet there were no kids there.

Peter could tell that Drew wasn't happy with his party and looked around the room, looking for a certain guest he knew was coming.

Drew noticed his guard looking around "Are you looking for Lady Cynthia?" he asked mockingly as Peter blushed "What? No!" he defended, embarrassed that an eight year old was teasing him about a girl "Then what are you looking for?" Drew asked sceptically as he too started looking around.

Peter cleared his throat "Well I knew that you'd be bored so I took a sneak peek of the guest list and saw that one the nobles are here with their daughter, she's around your age" Peter said calmly but Drew didn't seem interested. "What?" Peter asked, worried he had ticked him off "Why would I want to hang around with a little girl? She'd probably just want to do girly stuff" Drew mumbled.

Suddenly Drew's frown was turned around when a beautiful woman with blonde hair and silver eyes walked over to them "Mother!" he yelled as she crouched down to hug her son "Lady Rosalina? I thought you weren't getting back until tomorrow" Peter inquired as the woman stood back up and smiled warmly "Well I wanted to surprise my little boy on his special day" she said kindly as Drew seemed to cling to her, obviously happier now.

"So is this the son we've heard so much about?" a male voice asked from behind Rosalina.

Drew looked to the owner of the voice to see a tall man with dark blue, almost black, hair and blue eyes smiling down at him.

"Oh Sir Norman, I thought you we're still talking with the king" Rosalina said with a smile "I was… but I wanted to introduce someone to you, she and her mother were out of town when you came for a visit" he said before looking down to the small girl hugging his leg.

Drew looked down to see a little girl with light brown hair and sapphire blue eyes. She was wearing a cutesy dress and carrying a stuffed toy… a wolf?

Norman picked her up and faced Rosalina "Is this Maybelle? Aww she's gotten so big" Rosalina commented happily as she almost squealed. Rosalina put a hand out to readjust the stuffed toy in Maybelle's arms, as it was about to fall, but was smacked away by the little girl before she hugged her toy tightly "Maybelle" Norman scolded as she cuddled into her father's chest "It's okay" Rosalina said before crouching slightly "You like doggies?" she asked as the little girl nodded slightly "Would you like to see some real doggies?" she asked as she once moody little girl became a ball of energy.

Rosalie smiled as Maybelle was put down "Maybelle this is Andrew, he's my son" she said, crouching down slightly as Drew just stared at her, knowing what she was trying. "He's going to show you the doggies" Rosalie said as Drew just stared at her with disbelief as the little girl smiled and looked up at her dad, tugging at his pants slightly to show that she was excited.

"Aren't you Andrew?" she asked seriously.

Drew sighed "Fine… let's go Marchbelle" he mumbled as Rosalie frowned slightly at him.

The two children wondered out of the ballroom, followed by Peter of course.

Rosalie smiled proudly as she watched her son and the young girl walk off "What was that?" Norman asked sceptically. Rosalina giggled "As you know, King Nathaniel has chosen many girls to be my son's potential wife… amongst them was your daughter… I want Andrew to choose his own wife … instead of" she paused as Norman looked at her sadly "Instead of what happened to you?" he asked sympathetically as Rosalina took in a deep breath and let it out, a smile appearing back on her face "I didn't get to choose who I married or had a child with… all I want is for my son to have a choice… so I'm going to simply be having him meet as many on the list as I can without it seeming suspicious… then see who he chooses" she said as she knew in the back of her mind that while it was a good idea, it still had a chance of backfiring immensely.

Norman smiled down at her "It's a good idea… but if May doesn't like him I'm gonna have to pull her out of the running" he said jokingly, but Rosalina knew he was serious since he would do anything for his baby girl.

Over with Drew.

He was lazily walking through the halls of the castle as May and Peter began to talk behind him "So how old are you?" Peter asked as the little girl looked up and said "Six!" in a confident voice. Peter laughed at her cuteness as Drew glanced back at her "When do I get to see the doggies?" she asked worried as she looked around the dark halls "Don't worry, we're almost there" Peter said with a kind smile.

May looked at Drew "Why is your hair green?" she outright asked "Because it is" he answered bored "Drew" Peter scolded "Fine… It's a royal trait… no matter what a child of royalty has this hair colour or something like it" he said slightly annoyed as he had explained it to almost everyone he met that was either the same age or younger than him. May stared in awe "It's pretty" she said with a bright smile, embarrassing Drew slightly, causing Peter to chuckle.

They reached the dog kennel and almost as soon as May walked into the room, she ran right for the huskies. Drew was surprised, they had Jack Russels and other small dogs… but instead this weak looking girl ran right for the biggest and most threatening dogs they had.

The small girl looked up in awe, she had only ever seen real dogs in books and drawings, seeing them for real was mesmerising for her.

Drew took this as a chance to test if she scared easily "Want to pet one?" he asked as he began to unlock the cage "Drew, don't do that" Peter scolded "Calm down, these are mine" Drew said proudly as he helped to train them.

The dogs slowly exited the cage and surrounded May before all flopping onto their stomachs to be pet "Hehe" May giggled before she leaned down and began petting the dogs' fur.

Drew walked up to her and handed her a small ball "Throw it" he said happily. She looked down at the ball and threw it as far as she could, although it didn't go very far, and all three dogs chased after it before one of them managed to bring it back.

May giggled and she threw it again.

Peter smiled as Drew began to teach her a better way of throwing, he had always seen the mature side of Drew and only saw glimpses the childish side most eight year olds had, now was definitely different… Drew was genuinely having fun.

After they got tired of throwing the ball, the two children looked over to the young man to see he was distracted with petting one of the lazier dogs "When I say 'run' follow me as fast as you can" Drew whispered before slowly moving towards the back of the room.

May followed his movement before they reached their escape route "Run!" Drew yelled as he threw the door open and began running, but not so fast that May's little legs couldn't keep up.

Peter sighed and jogged after the pair, deciding to humour the two of them.

The two little kids giggled and laughed happily as they ran through the castle.

Suddenly May grabbed Drew's hand and took a sharp turn into one of the courtyards and into a rose garden, then hiding inside the hedges.

Peter had seen them start running into the courtyard and began to pick up his pace, while he was all for letting them enjoy themselves, being outside the castle wasn't as safe.

The two stayed perfectly still as Peter entered the garden, stressing a bit as he had actually lost sight of them this time. "Prince Andrew, you need to come out now" Peter whispered as it would be bad if people knew that the crowned prince was outside and unguarded.

When Peter had moved to almost the opposite end of the garden, the two started moving to get out of the bush… but it wasn't that easy.

In one quick movement, May was dragged out of the bush. Drew sighed and got out "Alright you found us Pe" he started but was shocked to see one of his older brothers who had been pushed aside so he could have the throne "N?" he asked as May looked scared in his arms.

As you already know, N is Drew oldest brother, at this point in time he's eleven years old and his hair is much shorter than ne has it in the future.

"Wow, so you can make friends huh?" he asked mockingly as he held May's small face in his hand "Let her go" Drew said trying to sound brave but only succeeded in sounding like a small helpless child… exactly what he was right now.

N laughed "I'm shocked that you get such a little cutie as a possible wife… all I seem to be getting are the power hungry bitches with seriously annoying personalities" he said bored as he took out a knife and ran the blunt side down May's small cheek "What are you doing?" Drew asked, obviously scared now.

N chuckled a little "Let's put it this way… I was supposed to be king, I'm first born after all… but then you come along… the son of some peasant woman that the kings fancied… and then you get to become king? How is that fair?" he asked as an angry look bestowed upon his face "It wasn't my choice!" Drew yelled, obviously trying to get Peter to hear him "I guess you're right… but the only way to change fathers mind is to simply not have you around anymore" N said before freezing.

Drew turned around and almost screamed.

It was a large man… a bear Desolate.

Drew had never seen something so ferocious, the Desolate servants working in the castle were bound by law to always show some part of their animal features… but most of them were things like colourful birds and creatures you would usually have as a house pet… but this? This was a whole new thing.

The man had large arms and bloodlust in his eyes "Green hair" he growled, barely making sense through the anger in his voice.

N threw May to the ground by the man and ran away, leaving the two children to the mercy of the mysterious man.

May got up quickly and started moving backwards, terrified as she too had never seen something so terrifying.

The man raised his claws and brought them down to May.

In the last possible second, Drew hugged May and turned around to take the blow.

"DREW!" May screamed as he fell to the ground, three deep cuts in his back, and a forth smaller one that was only half as deep.

May looked back up at the man to see a sickeningly creepy smile across his face. He raised his hand again "Drew!" Peter yelled as he ran as fast as he could to the three of them, unsheathing and swinging his sword so quick that it was almost like the man had an 'X' shaped wound just appear across his torso on its own.

Peter wasted no time in picking Drew and running back into the castle, May in his other arm.

~o~O~o~

Drew woke up the next morning with no memory of what happened to him or even meeting the little girl Peter was telling him about.

The incident did not go unnoticed and Drew's security was increased so much that if he was caught outside the castle grounds then he'd be confined to his room for a week with the more dangerous Desolate standing guard. But it wasn't as lonely as you'd think as his mother would visit as often as she could and Peter, who was like a big brother by this point, would always find ways to entertain the young child.

This continued until Drew turned ten when someone new entered his life, the boy who would eventually become his best friend, Ash Ketchum who was brought in as his personal attendant.

They didn't get along all too well at first due to Ash's immaturity and Drew's smugness and even tried to avoid each other.

~o~O~o~

A little after a year after arriving in the castle Ash and Drew eventually became somewhat friends.

He, Drew and Peter were going into town to go to a merchant's guild that had apparently gotten some rare goods. So despite only being eleven, Drew was allowed to go check it out as long as Ash and Peter came along "What do you think they'll have?" Ash asked excided as he had only ever heard about merchant guilds from his older brother Aaron.

Peter looked up and placed his finger and thumb on his chin "Last time I was there they had some really soft feathers that was shipped over from Marlow" he said as he remembered back to the unnaturally soft and silky feathers, unknowing that those feathers weren't from a bird… but a Desolate.

As the carriage stopped, Ash was the first to get out, too excited to wait for the coachman to open the door for them.

Drew sighed and pulled his hood up "Looks like their busy today" Peter commented as they walked over to the docks to see a large crowd scattered about trying to bargain for the goods the merchants were selling.

It didn't take long before the Desolate trading started.

At the time, Drew had no idea what it was really like to be a Desolate as he himself wasn't one yet, so he thought nothing of it.

There was one man doing a presentation of some machine he had made "It's interesting… but how useful would it really be?" Peter mumbled as the two younger boys hummed in agreement.

At the corner of his eye, Ash noticed someone.

They were short and cloaked and taking things from other peoples' bags.

Ash nudged Drew and motioned his head over to the person. Drew glanced up at Peter to see the young man, now twenty, was distracted by the presentation. The two boys took two steps backwards before turning and running after the small thief who was hastily running for an alleyway.

The two boys followed the small thief through several streets before the person tripped and dropped the small number of items they had stolen.

They were about to get up when Drew stood on their back "A little thief huh?" he asked smugly as Ash picked up the stolen items. Ash stood up and glanced at the kid on the ground "Umm Drew?" Ash asked as he pointed at the kids face "What?" Drew asked before turning the young thief over and gasping "You're a?" he asked shocked.

The small child had cerulean eyes and long flowing orange hair… he was a she.

"Girl?" she asked before jumping up and started running "Well that was" Ash started as they watched the girl run away "Weird? Unpredictable? Shocking? Take your pick" Drew said calmly.

The two boys went to the authorities to return the stuff the girl had stolen and learned that it has happened a lot recently, especially on busy days.


	22. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21 – NO POV**

 **WARNING:** If you have not read the previous chapter this will make no sense

 **Still in the past… 7 years from current time**

A few hours passed and, after a long scolding from Peter, they were headed back to the castle.

Drew was absentmindedly looking through the trinkets and items he had bought for his mother while Ash just looked out the window.

Suddenly Ash stood up and yelled "Stop the carriage!" before jumping out the door, the carriage barely having stopped but he kept the landing and continued running.

"Where is he off to so fast?" Peter asked before Drew ran after him.

Ash skidded to a stop and froze at the scene in front of him.

Blood scattered the alleyway, Desolate Traders lied dead all over the ground and destroyed weapons with bite marks in them scattered the remaining space between the bodies.

In the centre of all this chaos was a figure, draped in a blood soaked cloak with blood smeared around their exposed mouth and sharp teeth with flesh hanging from them.

The person looked over at Ash and backed away a little, tripping over one of the bodies and landing on their behind, their hood falling down to reveal the same girl they had run into earlier that day.

"Ash don't run off like" Peter said but froze upon seeing what happened "What happened here?" Drew asked as he caught up to the two of them.

Drew looked at the young girl who was cowering in front of them, despite her being soaked in blood "What did you do?" Peter asked as he readied himself to take out his sword "Don't" Drew threatened Peter as he placed a hand on his guard's blades handle "But she's killed so many people "Slave traders… she killed slave traders, I recognise these guys… I overheard that my father has been employing them to take orphans off the street and sell them to the port towns to sell to other countries" Drew said with hatred dripping from his tone.

Without the other two boys noticing, Ash had walked up to the girl "Are you unharmed?" he asked as he helped her up "What?" she asked confused "Are you unharmed?" he asked.

That was when he realised, she was stick thin and a little short "What does that mean?" she asked innocently, shocking the three boys "You don't know what unharmed means?" Ash asked only to have the girl shake her head "I've lived here for a long time… I didn't get to learn words like that" she said as she glanced at the massacre around her "How old are you?" Drew asked, walking towards the girl "I think I'm eleven" she said in an unsure tone "How long have you had to do things like this?" Peter asked, gesturing around at the dead bodies.

The girl looked down and up, obviously trying to think hard "When I got sick then better… my big brothers left me infront of a store and said they were leaving to get me a present… I haven't seen them since" she said sadly "How long ago was that?" Ash asked.

The girl looked around again then down at her fingers and began to count "I think it was five or six years ago… they probably left me because I was a Deso-thingy" she said obviously not properly knowing what a Desolate even was.

Before they could say anything, a whistle rang through the alleyway signalling that the soldiers were coming their way to obviously arrest the girl they were with.

Before Drew or Peter had any say, Ash grabbed the girl and rushed her back to the carriage "What are you doing?" she asked scared "Saving your life" Drew said as he jumped into the carriage followed by Peter before the driver took off.

"Why are you helping me?" she asked, scared that they were tricking her or not. Ash smiled down at her "It would be ungentlemanly to leave a young lady in help alone" he said with a kind tone.

Drew was of course hesitant to let this girl come with them but he knew that she was just protecting herself.

When they reached the castle, they were confronted by Drew's mother "Lady Rosalina I can explain" Peter started as he stood in front of the group of three, only to be ignored as the beautiful woman walked right past him and up to the small girl "Are you okay?" she asked and the mysterious girl nodded slowly.

Without another word, Rosalina grabbed the girls arm and rushed off into the castle "Where is she taking her?" Ash asked worried "Don't worry, she's probably taking her to get cleaned up" Peter said calmly "My mother has a soft spot for kids no matter if their Desolate or human" Drew said calmly.

~o~O~o~

Drew was lying on his bed and staring at the ceiling "Could you please stop that?" he asked Ash as he stood up to look at his best friend who was pacing back and forwards "Why?" Ash asked, his pacing continued "Because you've been doing that for the past hour… it's getting annoying" Drew said blankly but was just ignored.

Drew sighed and fell back onto his bed "Why are you so worried about her anyway?" Drew asked as Ash finally stopped pacing from the sudden question "I kind of know what she's going through" he said nervously "Know what she's going through? Ash you're the son of a noble and the son of an extremely successful and rich woman… how would you know what she's going through?" he asked sceptically.

Ash looked away "I… umm" he said as even though he's known Drew for well over a year, the prince had no clue that he was a Desolate and he had no intention of telling him from fear it would come back to his mother in some way, it wasn't that he didn't trust Drew… just that secrets don't really stay secrets when there are gossiping maids and guards everywhere.

Another thing to note about the castle was that all Desolate maids and guards were given less food and were ordered by law to always have some part of their animal appearance showing, whether it be a set of ears, eyes or a tail.

Drew eyed Ash, he knew he was trying to avoid the question. He was about to question him further but a knock came from the rooms door "Enter" Drew said calmly.

Peter entered the room with someone holding his hand.

It was a young thin girl with cerulean eyes and long orange hair dressed in a frilly yellow dress with a light blue sash around her waist and matching blue shoes.

Rosalie entered the room behind the two of them "Boys this is Misty, she is a shark Desolate, I will take care of her for a while so I hope the three of you get to know each other, and you are not to mention that she is a Desolate" she said, surprising both boys, they were expecting her to get Misty a new home… not take care of her herself.

~o~O~o~

A little over a year passed and Misty had been tutored on basic knowledge and etiquette, but it didn't take long for everyone to realise she was quite the boyish girl.

One day when the three now twelve-year-old kids had snuck out they ended up in a bad situation. A group of bandits where holding a whole group captive, threatening them with a vile containing water infected with the Desolate Plague.

For a short time, it looked like everything was okay, but as soon as the guards showed up, Drew was taken by their leader, a Desolate, and forced to drink the infected water.

Just as you'd guess, Drew came down with the disease.

He was kept under quarantine but to avoid public worry they, and the king, were told the crowned prince was just ill with a bad cold. Drew fought the disease for a month, a while month of stabbing pains all over his body, a whole month of vomiting up blood and a whole month of isolation from his friends, the only ones allowed to see him were Desolate who had sworn to Lady Rosalina to keep the truth a secret.

When it was over, he knew what he was, a Desolate. He wasn't use to it at first as his senses were stronger than ever and it proved to be rather annoying at first since he would unknowingly pick up conversations from down the hall from his room or smells he had never smelt before.

When he was finally allowed to leave his room though… he was met with a horrible reality.

He found Misty and Ash crying on a Cliffside near the castle. When they spotted him, they had not words… all they could do was step aside and let Drew see what had happened.

 _Peter Hanson_

 _Age 21_

 _He was loved by many and will be missed by all_

Drew fell to his knees "How long ago?" was all he could ask. Misty sniffed "This morning" she barely got out through her sobbing.

Drew couldn't move… Peter had done so much for Drew, saved his life so many times and was basically his brother… but when it came to the end… he wasn't even there for him. The man Drew was proud to call his brother was gone, Drew didn't even get a chance to say goodbye "So while I was lazing in my bed this morning… he was dying?" Drew asked as he reached out to the tombstone "While I was well enough to go see him… I just lied there and did nothing?" Drew asked as flashes of Peter ran though his mind, the time he saved him as a child, all those games they played together, all the promises they made for when Drew was old enough to explore… were all for not.

Drew refused to leave Peter's grave, when the guards came to remove him he kicked and screamed, he wasn't ready to say goodbye… he never would be.

~o~O~o~

Drew didn't speak to anyone for the next few weeks, blaming himself for what happened to Peter. Peter had come to visit him when he had first gotten sick and upon Drew's request, he had stayed.

Even after he got over the initial shock of losing Peter, he would go to his grave every evening as they use to go to that same cliff to talk and relax together whenever Drew's lessons ran long.

Over the next few years Drew would close himself off to new people, completely refusing to even see his potential wives and committing completely to etiquette lessons, public affairs, sword fighting, archery, horse riding and learning several instruments.

He was so closed off that when Ash had finally told him that he too was a Desolate, the young prince had little to no reaction and just calmly accepted it.

~o~O~o~

 **1 year before current timeline**

Drew, Misty, Ash and Lady Rosalina were on their way back from a royal affair. Drew now being seventeen, often had to go on trips like this, usually with his mother as he almost never saw his father, the two of them barely ever even say more than a sentence to each other.

Drew was rather hesitant on going on the trip as Lady Nelly, N's mother, had been acting especially suspicious lately.

"That town was rather nice, wasn't it?" Misty asked as she admired the necklace one of the shop owners gave to her for free, trying to flirt with her "Why are you still wearing that?" Ash asked a little grumpy.

By this point in time they had only just started dating and Ash found himself getting jealous of the attention she had gotten from several shop owners that day.

Misty smirked "What? I think it looks good on me… what do you think?" she asked, putting him on the spot. "Umm… I… it looks… umm" Ash mumbled out as Misty just giggled at his shyness.

The happy atmosphere was suddenly broken by the sounds of loud rumbling and crashing.

"What's that noise?" Lady Rosalina asked worried as they were currently on a mountain path and loud cracking wasn't something you'd want to hear in that situation.

Her question was answered when the carriage suddenly stopped and tipped.

The whole thing began to tumble down the side of the mountain, the carriage becoming distorted and sharp rocks and branches poking through.

After what felt like forever, they finally stopped "You guys okay?" Ash asked as he held a wound on his head "MUM!" Drew screamed.

Ash looked over to Lady Rosalina to see her lying limp, eyes dull and a large injury in her lower torso "Rosalina!" Misty cried as she shook the woman slightly "No don't you dare do this! Not you too!" Drew yelled as he hugged his mother's dying body.

Ash's enhanced hearing suddenly kicked in as he heard men talking "If that didn't kill them we'll have to do it ourselves" one said.

As much as it pained him to do it, Ash transformed halfway and grabbed both teens and began to run, leaving the wreckage "Ash what are you doing?!" Misty yelled as Drew tried desperately to get out of Ash's grip. When they were a safe distance away Ash put them down "Why did you just leaver her?!" Drew screamed as he grabbed Ash by the collar. Ash looked away, knowing how hard this was for his friend "She was dying, there were people coming for us… they were obviously the reason we fell… they were trying to kill us" he said as Drew just stared at him.

His hands began to shake and he let go of Ash before he backed away.

His shaky hands reached his face as he stared at the ground, tears falling freely "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" he screamed, so much emotional pain in one sound that was enough to make anyone cry.

.

.

.

.

Depressing, I've been trying to find a way to explain Drew's back story for a while now so I figured that this was the easiest way. If you haven't realised it by now, most of these guys have rather depressing pasts, that's the point of this fic, characters with tragic pasts and facing predigest situations because of something they had no control over.

Anyway please R&R and sorry it's almost been a month since the last update.


	23. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22 – Drew's POV**

With little to no warning the queen suddenly called for her guards and the next thing I know I'm on the ground, cloak ripped off and she reveals my true identity in front of May… this is not going well.

She had a sword pointed to my throat but it was shaking, she feared me but was putting on a brave face. If this were any other situation I would have broken free and escaped… but I need this woman's trust.

I sighed and looked her directly in the eye "I abandoned that title a year ago, as far as I'm concerned I'm just a traveling Desolate with an annoying hair colour" I said confidently as she just eyed me suspiciously "Where is your mark?" she asked, not believing me.

I looked at her also confused "Why would you want to see my mark?" I asked as she scoffed "Oh please, your father is well known for creating a drug that temporarily gives a regular human the abilities of a Desolate, who says he wouldn't give it to his favourite son" she said seriously, sword still at my neck but no longer shaking.

I laughed a bit "Favourite son? Yea right… that old man only gave me that title because he liked my mother the best" I said as she looked down at me sceptically.

Suddenly I was forced up and the guards were grabbing at my shirt "What the hell are you doing?" I asked frantically as I tried to stop them "I'll only allow you to live when I see your mark, this will go a lot easier if you just show us your mark" she said calmly as I struggled in the guards' grips, the must be Desolate for them to have to use little effort to keep me in place. I stopped and looked down "Fine" I complied and lifted my shirt enough to show the clawed paw shape around my belly button, making sure that my back wasn't shown, a large ugly scar was the last thing May needed to see in a situation like this.

She nodded in approval "Alight it's real… bring him to the dungeons for interrogation" she said as she lazily waved her hands, the two guards dragging me off. "Don't!" I yelled at Ash and Misty who were about to transform, but they stopped at my order.

3rd POV

As Drew was forced away, Rin was given glares by everyone in the group. She ignored this however and calmly put the sword away "I know what you must be thinking… but this is for precautions, those two would understand, after all they're both royal bodyguards" she said looking directly at Misty and Ash.

The two of them looked away, it was common practice as Drew was not only a part of the neighbouring countries royal family but the next in line to the enemy's country.

May on the other hand had no idea what was going on and didn't like it one bit "Drew's a prince?" she asked herself before her head snapped up "Those table manners… the way he would hide his hair… his fighting style… he knew the castle and the royal family… it was so obvious… how did I not realize sooner?" she asked herself as Brendan walked up beside her, having arrived at the castle not long after their group did "I think you suspected it… but you refused it so much that you fooled yourself into believing it wasn't true" he said simply.

Rin cleared her throat "Now, I know that none of you feel like you can trust me after that but I ask that you please spend the night here, we have a ball planned, I will be done talking to young Mr Quinton by then and he will join you at the ball" she said seriously.

She then clicked her hands and a young man walked in "I have rooms set up for you all, this man will escort you, I believe at least one of you know him" she said before walking out of the room.

May, Misty, Levy, Chase and especially Ash just stared at the man. The others couldn't help but notice how similar he and Ash were, while Ash himself was about to tear up.

He took one step forward, and then another before running and hugging the young man "You're alive, you're here" he cried into the man's shoulder, as Ash was only a few centimetres shorter.

The man hugged Ash back and they both stayed like that. Everyone else were confused, they had no idea who this stranger was and why Ash was so happy to see him.

Suddenly Brendan spoke up "I knew Ash looked familiar… Aaron, is he your younger brother?" he asked "What?" Levy and May asked together as Chase just stared at the boys while Misty began to tear up as well, she had heard the story of how Ash was separated from his brother and was there for all the night terrors that followed, to see them reunited again was something she both loved but envied, envied that her siblings couldn't have been so kind to her.

As everyone began congratulating the two brothers, May was standing in the back, not taking what just happened well "What the hell is wrong with you people!?" she yelled, shocking the group "May?" Misty asked as she stepped closer to the upset girl "Drew was just taken away! You two are supposed to be his best friends and you're acting like it's nothing!" May almost screamed.

Misty and Ash looked away from the fuming girl and Brendan put a hand on her shoulder "Don't worry, Drew will be fine, Rin just needs to ask him some questions… it's like she said, they'll be done by tonight" he said, calming her down to a degree. May glared at him "Fine… but if I see so much as a scratch on him then someone's losing their hearing" she said seriously before looking at Aaron.

Aaron was personally a little scared, he had heard of the stories of the bat Desolate and their ability to use sonic screeching to deafen or disorientate their enemies.

She walked up to him and held out her hand "I'm May, you must be Aaron" she said calmly before Aaron glanced as Ash, he was honestly nervous to meet her as well as shocked for how young she was and how small her body was.

He hesitantly shook her hand before kissing the back of it "It's a pleasure to meet you lady Maple" he said calmly, shocking May "How do you know that name?" she asked as she walked away from him, scared. Aaron smiled down at her kindly, not noticing her sudden change in body language "I was once a noble in Quincy, your family were well known after the fire" he said as May just stared at him, not moving a muscle.

"Hey Aaron how about we show these guys to their rooms?" Brendan said as he partially stepped in front of May "Oh of course" Aaron said as he started walking towards the exit.

Once everyone else was out of the room Brendan turned back to May "You wanna tell me what that was about?" he asked as he almost stared her down "What?" May asked, trying to sound clueless in a terrible attempt to end the conversation. Brendan held her arm "Don't 'what?' me, the second he called you Maple you froze up like you'd seen a ghost" he said seriously as she looked away "I don't want to talk about it" May said spitefully.

Part of Brendan was curious but he knew that if she was going to tell him it would be her choice, not by his demand "Alright… you can tell me when you're ready" he said quietly as May slowly turned around. She glanced back at him "Thank you… now come on, the others will realise we aren't with them" she said calmly before walking out of the room. Brendan stood there for just a moment more and thought for a second, he really didn't know much about May's past, he'd gotten glimpses of it by seeing the scars on her back and legs and now he learns she was once a noble… the whole thing seemed like a hard story for her to tell.

He sighed before following "What took you so long Brendan?" Levy asked slyly, walking on his left "You seemed rather protective of May back there… something you haven't told us?" Chase asked deviously from Brendan's right.

Brendan looked at the two of them then forwards "I don't remember you being so cheeky Chase" he admitted, having not known Levy long enough to know her real character "What can I say, we're like a dynamic duo" Chase said as Levy agreed.

That's when it hit him, Levy, May had mentioned that they'd known each other for years, she'd know about May's past "Hey Levy" he began but was quickly cut off "If it's about her past I'm not obliged to give that information, you get to learn when she wants you to" Levy said seriously but couldn't help but grin after speaking.

Brendan walked ahead of the duo "You're having fun with this" Chase commented as Levy shrugged "What can I say, I'm a sucker for drama" she said cheekily as they kept walking.

"So, what has May told you about her past?" Levy asked, surprising Chase a little "Why the sudden interest?" Chase asked curiously. Levy smiled warmly, staring off into space "Other than me, she's spent the most time with you, she would trust you enough to tell you a few things" she said quiet enough that the others didn't hear but loud enough that she didn't have to repeat herself. Chase put a finger to his chin "Let me think" he mumbled as he tried to remember anything she'd said "Well I know that she was a slave to Giovanni for a few years… she has a little brother who was human and is currently back in Ogleine Town… she told this to Leaf as well after she had seen her scars" he said calmly "Wait… Leaf? As in your sister?" Levy asked, recognising the name "Yea, she was going to go to Lorcan but she was needed elsewhere" he said a little disappointed "It wasn't much of a reunion… but I know that I'll see her again now that I know where she resides now" he added optimistically.

Levy smiled up at him "I'm happy for you" she said before they reached their destination.

~o~O~o~

Drew was in an office of sorts, expensive looking artwork decorated the walls and paint stains scattered on the floor "I'm sorry for that just now but I needed to make sure they won't interfere" Rin said as she walked in "So what's so important that you have to talk to me for most of the day about it?" he asked with folded arms and an annoyed tone "I was good friends with your mother, she told me that If anything were to ever happen to her to make sure that you were okay, granted you did a good job on staying under the radar for a while" she said calmly, ignoring the massive bombshell she had just dropped "What? You knew my mother? How? She was a peasant before my father forced her to marry him" Drew stated as he was still weary not to believe everything this woman said.

Rin sighed before ringing a bell "First there's someone here I believe you know" she said before a knock was heard "May I come in your majesty?" a slightly familiar voice asked, Drew knew it, but despite how hard he tried he didn't know why "Yes you may" Rin answered as the door slowly opened.

When the figure stepped into the room Drew was actually surprised, he thought it would have been someone from his past, but this was a resent face.

It was the woman from the coliseum, she had appeared as if out of nowhere back then and disappeared just as fast "You? What are you doing here? Wait… who are you?" he asked as he darted his gaze from one woman to the other.

The new arrival smiled kindly "My name is Joy, I'm your aunt" she said, no hesitation and her tone all kinds of serious. Drew just stared at her "My mother never mentioned me having an aunt" he said blankly "That's because your mother was born here in Rota, King Nathaniel came here for a democratic meeting back before the war started and decided to keep her for himself" Rin said calmly "She's a distant relative to the Rota throne that she was able to live in the castle… but too distant that the king and queen at the time, my parents, didn't care and allowed him to take her" Joy said sadly as she too was a distant relative "She wasn't allowed to keep in contact with us but one day I managed to get a messenger bird to the castle and we would communicate through that, one day she suspected that Nelly, the current queen, was plotting to kill her and yourself so she asked if we could keep an eye on you" Rin said as she took the notes out of her draw to show that most were about Drew "How long have you been following me?" he asked Joy "By the time I had made it to Quincy your mother had already been murdered and that you had died alongside of her" Joy said before smiling "But then I remembered that you were a Desolate, since they hadn't found your body I knew you had survived, I eventually found you in the forest when you met and rescued the girl, May, and followed you from there, making sure to only step in when it was absolutely necessary" she stated.

Drew had to take a second to process everything "So… your my aunt" he said pointing to Joy "I'm somehow related to you" he said pointing to Rin "And you've been following me for several months" he stated, pointing back to Joy who nodded and scratched her head awkwardly.

Drew turned to Rin "So what was with the theatricals earlier? Why not just say 'Hey Drew I need to speak with you alone' I feel like it would have been a lot easier" he said before Rin giggled a bit "Sorry, but you were so distant when you first walked in, not to mention it's about time you tell your friends you're royalty" she said like it was obvious… well it kind of was, but it's not like Drew was going to admit that.

Drew frowned "Is that all you wanted to say? Cause I don't think that took so long" he said as his annoyance level was building from the young queen's words "No the main reason I called you in here alone is to ask you something, something important" Rin said as her tone and facial expression turned serious "And that is?" Drew asked. Rin smirked and looked him dead in the eye "How do you feel about overthrowing your father?".


	24. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23 – 3** **rd** **POV**

Music filled the hall as guests danced together or mingled with each other.

Standing over in the corner was May, she was wearing a dark blue dress with a back that dipped down far enough to show off her Desolate mark. She had only been to a few of these events when she was just a little kid, and even then, she found them boring "Oh May right?" a sweetly smooth voice asked. May looked to her left to see none other than Rin's cousin "Lady Nichole?" May asked as she hoped she hadn't have gotten it wrong "Oh May just call me Nichole, after all you yourself are a lady as well" she said as May stared at her "What?" she asked, wondering if it was just castle knowledge by now that she was the daughter of a noble "Well you're so beautiful and when you want to you can act so refined that you're basically a Lady" she said as May sighed slightly "Yea I guess" she said relieved. "So where's this Drew fellow you mentioned at dinner?" she asked curiously "Your guess is as good as mine" May said spitefully.

Nichole noticed the tone in her voice but decided it would be best to just ignore it "So any plans for the next few days?" she asked "Other than the festival next week I can't think of anything" May said as she was almost lost in thought as she tried to think if she might have planned something "How would you like to visit the hot springs tomorrow? Misty and Levy are also invited" she questioned as May raised an eyebrow "Hot springs… what are those?" she asked as Nichole gave her a blank stare "You don't know? Well it's a pond I suppose, but it's naturally heated" Nichole tries to explain "So it's like a giant bath but outside?" May asked, interested in this hot spring thing.

As their conversation continued the topic drifted to boys, and then to Brendan in particular "You like him?" May asked "As in love or as a friend?" she added. Nichole turned her face slightly "Well… I think of it one way but he just thinks we're close friends" she said disappointed. She suddenly looked May in the eye "So please tell me, do you have feelings for him?" she asked abruptly taking May off guard "Me? Like Brendan?" she said slowly before breaking out into laughter "Sorry, he may flirt with me a lot but the most I think of him is as a friend" she said as she whipped a tear away from laughing so suddenly.

Nichole was about to ask her to elaborate but a man came over and asked for a dance, being the polite lady she was raised as, Nichole accepted and May was left alone again.

Elsewhere, Ash and Aaron were having a family catch-up with their mum, Misty feeling like she would be imposing decided to walk outside to the large fountain inside the garden, the moon reflecting off the water like a mirror.

She smiled happily and sat down on the edge of the fountain and ran her fingers through the water, she didn't know why but water always had a calming effect on her, maybe it was the fact that she was a shark.

She took a quick look around before tying her skirt into a knot and taking off her shoes before walking around the fountain.

"Why is it that every time I need to find you I just have to find water?" Ash asked as Misty whipped around and smiled "Because I know you'll be the one to find me" she said with a smile "Well my lovely mermaid, do you mind if I join you?" he asked cheekily "Join me? What about your family?" she asked as Ash chuckled a little "We've had all day to catch up, now it's my time with you" he said as Misty turned away, trying to hide the fact that her face had turned red.

Ash chuckled and rolled up his pants, taking off his shoes and socks, before stepping into the cold water and slowly making his way over to Misty and hugged her from behind.

Misty squeaked a bit as she felt his hands wrap around her waist "Ash what are you doing?" she asked as the red on her face reached her ears "What's wrong with hugging the one you love?" he asked in return as Misty's head began to spin, the most Ash had ever done before were hugs and his best attempts at flirting, this was a whole new level.

Misty managed to turn around and face Ash to see that he too was red in the face "What's with the sudden show of affection?" she questioned as he smirked down at her "When did you get lessons from Drew" she retorted, trying to calm down the only way she knew how.

Ash's smirk stayed "Don't mention another guy when we're like this" he mumbled as he pressed his forehead to hers. Misty was stunned for words, usually in this situation she would crack a joke or hit him over the head… but right now she didn't know what to do.

His hand slowly reached up and gently held the side of her face "Ash?" Misty asked right before he gently pulled her up slightly as he brought his lips down to hers.

At first Misty was frozen stiff but she eventually melted into it. Her arms slowly wrapped around his neck as she deepened the kiss.

Ash leaned forward a bit more, his other hand on the small of her back, bringing her closer.

Suddenly Misty's feet slipped from beneath her and they both fell into the fountain. They both sat in the shallow water, staring at each other before they burst out in laughter.

Inside Levy and Chase had spotted the two soaked teens from the balcony "Those two are so cute" Levy sighed with a smile getting a curious look from Chase "what?" she asked "Oh nothing, I never took you for the romantic liking type" he said as he remembered all the times someone had mentioned something romantic and she would just sear the conversation away from it. Levy giggled "To tell you the truth I never really did… but recently I wonder what it would be like to have someone who will do anything for me and I for them" she said as she looked up dreamily at the stars.

Chase watched with her, blushing when he felt something intertwined with his fingers. Chase looked down to see Levy's gloved hand in his own. Levy herself didn't take her eyes away from the sky, but Chase could have sworn he saw a little smirk for a split second.

Brendan walked around the ballroom, strategically avoiding conversations that were about politics and work, a true slacker even in situations like this.

He eventually spotted May standing alone "Hey gloomy" he said as she turned quickly to look at him and frowned "Don't sneak up on me like that" she said with a playful nudge "Sorry, you were zoned out so I took my chance" he said cheekily with a wide grin.

They stood there in silence, neither was showing any signs of starting up a conversation, until Brendan spotted something out on the west balcony that overlooked the ocean "Yea May I have a surprise for you" he said as he held both of her hands "What?" she asked, blushing at his actions.

Without another word, he dragged her towards the balcony and pushed her outside and closing the door. He waved cheekily to her before walking somewhere else in the ballroom.

May just stood there dumbstruck "What?" she asked nobody in particular "Umm" a voice said from behind her.

May turned around so fast she almost gave herself whiplash "Drew" she said with relief before hugging him "I was worried" she mumbled into his shoulder before realising what she had just done "Oh my god! I'm sorry!" she exclaimed as she fumbled away from him, her face red.

Drew smirked, it was a rare sight to see her embarrassed, he'd never tell her but he like that side of her.

She turned to the ballroom "Why weren't you inside… I thought you'd be use to this kind of thing" she said awkwardly as she tried to keep her distance from him while still being close to him. Drew stared at her for a moment, still enjoying her actions before chuckling a bit "As a prince I was forced to these things up to three times a month, you get sick of them pretty quick" he said as he looked through the glass to all the upper-class people talking about what are usually useless things, although seeing a royal ball with Desolate guests was a nice change of pace.

May looked at him sceptically "Come on, there's got to be at least one of these gatherings that you actually enjoyed" she said as her regular personality was coming back.

Drew put a finger to his chin and looked up slightly, trying to remember if there actually was a ball he remembered that he actually had fun at "Well…as a kid I had an attendant named Peter, I remember him telling me about one ball when I was little, I don't remember it exactly but I had a pretty bad injury when I woke up" he said simply as May looked at him like he was crazy "You had fun because you got hurt?" she asked. Drew's calm demeanour dropped "No, no… I was told that I was having fun up until I was injured, apparently my mother had dumped a little girl on me, the daughter of a lord, we ended up having fun but then we were attacked, I don't remember what she looks like but by now she's probably some pompous brat" he said calmly as May laughed "Yea probably" she didn't remember either.

It went quiet for a short time before May turned to the scenery, walking over to the Balcony's railing, Drew following her actions "Sure is beautiful" he said quietly "Yea… the ocean is beautiful at night" May said as she rested her arms on the railing "I wasn't talking about the scenery" he said calmly. May blushed when she realised he was looking at her throughout that whole exchange "That was really corny you know" she mumbled as he laughed "Sorry that was one of Ash's lines" he said as he scratched his head.

"So Mr. Crowned Prince, wanna tell me why you never mentioned it?" she asked as he looked away "I never really thought there was a good time for it, when I first met you I wasn't sure if I could trust you… but after I got to know you I was… scared of how you'd react" he admitted with a bit of embarrassment. May couldn't really say anything, she'd never mentioned her life before Giovanni to him for the same reason.

Drew took in a dee breath and let it out "Well I suppose this is a good a time as any" he said before turning back to her "Where do you want me to start?" he asked. May tilted her head, he was giving her the choice to ask anything "Okay how did you meet Ash and Misty… and what was your mother like?" she asked a little excited.

Inside the hall, Brendan was watching the two of them, he had decided to let them be together, but why did he have a sinking feeling in his chest? "Hey Brendan, watcha looking at?" Levy asked as she slid in next to him, literally. Brendan quickly looked away and said nothing but it only succeeded in interesting the snake girl "Oh, Drew's back" she said like she was apologising "What's with that tone?" he asked, a little annoyed. Levy chuckled a bit "Oh please I know you like her, the only ones yet to realise are Ash and Chase, but that's only because they can be denser than a bag of bricks" she said in an amused tone "What of it?" he asked as she looked at him a little surprised "You actually admitted it… and here I thought I'd have to trick you into saying it" Levy said smugly as Brendan huffed "Why should you care?" he mumbled and moved to walk away but she stopped him "I care because May is my best friend, and even if you don't like it I like to think that you're my friend as well" she said simply getting an annoyed grumble as a response "Since when were we friends?" he asked.

Levy looked at him with an unimpressed look "Since I say we are grumpy pants… so why are you giving up?" she basically demanded. Brendan decided that the easiest way of getting her to drop it was to just tell her "I'm not giving up… she just needs him right now… someone closer to her age that knows what she's going through" he said as he looked to the floor.

He looked back at Levy and saw her giving him an unimpressed look "What kind of piss poor excuse is that?" she asked "What?" he asked back. Levy put a hand on her forehead "Look, I don't want to be the one who decides who she goes out with but you should realise that she needs everyone she can get, she's had a crappy life and now is probably the first time that things are going right for her in a long time" she said seriously.

Brendan was about to retort but Chase suddenly ran walked past with towels "Where are you going with those?" he asked as Chase stopped in front of them "Ash and Misty were messing around in the fountain and are soaked right now" he said while laughing.

Levy took one last glance at Brendan before turning to Chase "Gimme one, I'll take care of Misty, you take care of Ash" she said as they both walked off.

Brendan thought about going outside and seeing what the two teens were talking so intently about… but he knew they needed their space.

"Wow… who would have guessed Misty grew up on the streets, you'd never know by how she acts" May said as Drew nodded "After my mother took her in she and Ash got pretty friendly and thus we became friends" Drew said as he smiled at the memories of how they were as kids.

He looked over to May to see she was smiling warmly at him, making him blush a little "Why did you wait so long to tell me all this?" she asked with a giggle. Drew looked away "I honestly don't know… now what about you?" he asked "What about me?" she asked cheekily "Where did you really learn to do all the etiquette things you can do?" he asked.

May stood up straight before her shoulders slumped forwards a bit "My mother… I come from a family of nobles… I don't really remember it all though" she said sadly. Drew knew she was uncomfortable talking about this "Hey you know what?" he said kindly as he stepped a little closer to her "What?" she asked as she wiped away a stray tear that had fallen "You can tell me when you're ready… I don't want to force you into telling me" he said smiling down at her and hugging her gently. Although surprised at the sudden hug, May's arms raised up to his back and she hugged him tightly, in turn surprising Drew.

Suddenly fireworks started shooting up as the crowd inside began to cheer 'Right, I forgot Rin mentioned that she likes to end balls with fireworks' Drew thought as he looked at the fireworks, May still in his arms.

He looked down to her, expecting her to be red in the face and looking down… but she was looking at the sky, her eyes wide and her face was full of delight and wonder "What are those?" she asked happily, unknowingly pulling Drew closer "Those are fireworks" Drew said quickly as he only just now realised how close she was "Wow" she said as she turned her head to face the colourful flowers in the sky.

Just as the finally began Drew took his chance and leaned in.

May had looked at him when she noticed his silence but when she did she was met with a sweet and gentle kiss, it only lasted a second but May was happy about it.

Without thinking she grabbed his face and brought him down to her "If you're going to kiss me then do it properly" she said confidently despite her face being as red as a tomato.

Without another word May went on her tip toes and brought his face to hers, their lips locking into a passionate kiss, Drew reacted after his shock passed and his arms went around her waist.

Both were on cloud nine, neither wanted the moment to end, but despite their Desolate abilities, they needed air.

The broke apart, both panting and faces red.

Suddenly a cat call came from the direction of the ball room and some mocking noises could be heard. They looked over to the balcony's doors to see Misty, Ash, Chase and Levy standing there, Levy and Chase making the noises from before as Ash and Misty looked at Drew like proud parents.

"How long have you guys been standing there?" Drew asked as he and May suddenly let go of each other "Long enough" Misty said with a smirk "Oh why?" May mumbled just loud enough for only Drew to hear her.


	25. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24 – 3** **rd** **POV**

 _1 week later_

The streets were filled with performers and StreetSide attractions and stalls filled with foreign food and trinkets, some were even selling small pets like rabbits and birds.

"Wow Lar-Fisto's festivals have got nothing on this" Ash said as he walked down the street, his face painted like a tiger and hands full of food "Make sure you come to the town square later, Lady Nichole will be singing, it's rather beautiful" Aaron said as he and Delia walked next to him "By the way where's Misty?" Delia asked as she looked around for her son's girlfriend "She and Levy were out looking for Chase, he has a habit of going crazy at these things" Ash said calmly "How crazy?" Aaron asked as he was still security of the festival "Nothing major, it's just that he tends to run off and enter food eating competitions… it usually ends in him throwing up and spending several hours in bed" Ash said as he remembered the stories May and Levy had told him and the others the previous night.

Speaking of Chase "And the winner is Mike Stratus!" the announcer yelled as Chase stood proudly, having devoured a 50 pound steak in only a few minutes "So is Mike Stratus another alias of yours?" Misty asked as Levy sighed "He has over twenty of them and a reason for all of them" she sighed as Chase smirked, the steaks marinate covered his mouth "Hey where's May and Drew? Are they on a date?" Chase asked cheekily only to get laughs from the two girls "Well Drew's job today is to keep an eye on May so she won't pull any stunts with the game stalls" Levy said as she remembered her dad had taught May how to win the rigged games. Chase rose an eyebrow "But why? She makes money from it in a technically fair way" he said as he didn't really get what was so bad about it "If she does, people will get word of it and her description will get out, and for all we know someone bad could find out one of the rarest Desolate is here in Rota" Levy said like it was abvious "But wait, arent snakes also pretty rare?" Chase asked to which Levy simply answered with "Snake Desolate are only rare here, the country of deserts Grisha has tones of them" before noticing Misty was looking around "Go find Ash, it's fine I can manage here" Levy said before Misty smiled and wondered off.

"Why can't you let me have fun?" May whined as she and Drew walked down one of the streets "Because it's not fair" Drew reasoned "Not fair? Those games are designed so you can't win, how am **_I_** the one being unfair here?" May asked as she threw her arms around, dramatically emphasising her point. Drew sighed "I get that but it's like what Brendan told you yesterday, people in other countries know what the infamous bat Desolate looks like now, if word of a young girl matching that description is said to be somewhere, some people will go there, bad people" he said as May just pouted "Being under protection is boring" she mumbled as they kept walking.

Suddenly "Ooh what's that smell?!" she yelled as her head snapped in a certain direction and her eyes looked like those of an actual bat before she ran towards the smell.

Drew stood there for a moment, in the few months he's now known her he had never seen her do that.

He regained his composure and ran after her to see that one stall was selling all different kinds of fruits and foods with fruit as the main ingredient.

May was staring at it intently "Hey Drew" May asked as she turned to him "You want me to but you some?" he asked, expecting that was her next question "Well yes… but why am I so interested in fruit lately?" she asked a little worried. Drew stopped for a second before looking at her, now that she mentioned it, when he first met her she flew to a lemon tree and picked a few, not even bothering to try and eat any of them, recently she eats most fruits she comes across "Maybe it's a sign you can do a full-body morph" he guessed "Is that possible?" May asked as she didn't actually know all that much about Desolate other than the fact they had animal appendages and abilities "Well… not long before I could do it for the first time I always craved meet so much so that I would actually hunt it myself… I think Misty started attacking seals" he said unsurely but began to think of other Desolate who could fully transform "We can ask Levy when we get back to the castle later… until the do you want anything in particular?" he asked, pointing at the stall May had originally gone there for "Anything" she said quickly.

Drew sighed and walked up to the stall owner "Do you have jams?" he asked as he knew that if he got proper food she would just devour it "We only have strawberry jam, but we have jellies" he said as he held up a card with everything he had at his stall. Drew looked it over and thought back to what fruits she was eating the most of, seeing as they would have been her favourites "Alright I'll take a jar of strawberry jam, apple juice and orange and mango jellies" he said as the man got what he wanted.

After Drew paid for it he turned around expecting to see May with a happy expression… she had the happy expression… but it wasn't for him… Brendan was there… with apples.

"Hey Brendan what are you doing here?" he asked the older guy as a threatening aura oozed from him. Brendan ignored this and smiled at him "Well, as my job at sea is now done I was given the morning off, so I figured that since May's had quite the appetite for fruits I'd bring her some apples" he said as he watched May take large bites and turning the apples into thin cores rather fast "Make sure you don't choke" Drew said displeased.

Brendan smirked at Drew and grabbed May's hand "Come on let's dance" he said lowly before guiding her off to one of the small areas people had been dancing in.

Drew grumbled and put the things he bought into May's bag, that she left behind, and brought it with him as he trudged over to the large crowd of dancers, he was getting a sense of Déjà vu.

Just like what happened in Lar-fisto, May stole the show again, but his time Drew couldn't join in as Brendan was already there.

Drew stood in the crowd watching them, his foot tapping angrily as he impatiently waited for the song to end.

Ever since last week's kiss, the two of them were spending more time together, but every time he goes to hug or even touch her is usually met with her not so discrete way of avoiding it. A good example would be two days ago, when he tested his theory and tried to hug her, she reacted by ducking just in time to look at something on the ground, despite there being nothing there.

Once the song ended Brendan knelt on one knee and kissed her hand "With this I must say farewell as my morning of will now be replaced by an afternoon and night of paperwork" he said dramatically while gesturing a feinting pose, getting a giggle from May.

Brendan wondered off and waved to may as she waved back "Since when were you two so close?" Drew asked as he had seemingly appeared next to her "What do you mean? We've always been lie that" May said, confused by his question.

Drew shook the obviously jealous he was having out of his head and grabbed her hand, quick enough that she couldn't make up a reason not to or to move it "Come on, Rin told me that in the middle of the day she and Joy were going to be in a comedy play" he said as May's interest was sparked "The queen performs at the town festival?" she questioned as her thoughts on kings and queens were that they separate themselves from the commoners, as most do "Rin likes to be involved with her citizens, although there have been a few assassination attempts on her during events like this she still does it because she knows her citizens respect her" Drew said as they started walking "You sure know a lot about this" May said sceptically "Well, my mother is from this country so I'm going to learn whatever I can about it, that includes the royal family" he said somewhat proudly as they arrived at another area reserved for an event, this one being acrobats.

May snickered "What's so funny?" Drew asked. May smirked up at him "Their like me, they're acro-bats" she said as she began laughing, not from the pun but the look on Drew's face "Really?" Drew asked with a chuckle "It was right there" she excused before they kept walking.

They eventually reached the area for the play and were surprised to find the others were there too "Hey Levy, did you keep piggy here on a short leash?" May asked her friend who smirked "After I found him when he ran off for a second time he didn't leave me side" she said proudly "You threatened to bite me" Chase complained as his voice broke "It was an empty threat" Levy shot back "Sure" Chase said, still angry with her. Levy sighed "What about you?" she asked Drew, referring to his daily job "She didn't do anything to get attention drawn to her… other than dancing" he said as he wasn't sure if dancing really counted as there were a lot of people dancing.

May ignored their conversation and looked around "Where did Misty and Ash go?" she asked Aaron, someone of whom she was still wary about but made an effort to become somewhat friends.

Aaron looked around, his brother and his brother's girlfriend having slipped away "They must have gone off for some alone time" he teased as May snickered a bit "Oh leave them alone, they're a young couple" Delia said as she nudged her eldest son slightly.

As the play was setting up a group of girls were nearby talking about something that grabbed their attention "Did you hear?" one said "Hear what?" a second one asked "Apparently, the queen got engaged to a guy who works at the castle" the first one said as the group gasped like it was terrible "But she's royalty, and a queen, surely there would be some handsome princes and kings she could have gone after" one of them said.

"Do girls just want looks ant titles? I'll never understand them" May said as she got a slight laugh from Chase and Levy as Drew just smiled.

May looked up thoughtfully "Now that I think about it, Brendan mentioned that Rin's fiancé was going to be at that dinner last week, but I never saw any men sitting next to her" she said as the others realised it too "And she still gets letters for marriage proposals from other countries, but throws them out" Delia said as she had seen a few of them, some being from some truly genuinely kind men, and a few women.

"Aaron, you're one of her guards, have you seen this fiancé of hers and what he looks like? Or does he not exist?" Chase asked as Aaron became the main attention of the conversation "Umm, for the queen's personal privacy I cannot reveal anything other than the fact that he is a he and that he is real" he said simply, slightly annoying the others with the lack of information.

The decided to drop the topic as he was right, it was her privacy and she can love whomever she wishes… she is a queen after all.

Right before the play started, Drew gave May her bag back and she almost immediately took out the strawberry jam and began eating it with the biscuits she had bought earlier that day.

As they watched the play, Drew found himself looking at May a lot, watching her laughing face made him smile, he had gotten so used to seeing her near emotionless or sad face so this was a great change.

By the time the play had finished, most of them were holding their stomachs from laughing so much, the whole thing was a romance comedy where several men and one woman go after one girl, and the twist right at the end was that she was a man all along.

 **May's POV**

We began to walk down the street when Rin ran over to us "Do any of you have medical experience?" she asked "Why? What happened?" Aaron asked quickly "Someone poisoned my food and Joy ate it" she said worried. Levy stepped forwards "I don't have medical experience per se… but I know my poisons and how to dull the effects" she said proudly "Great" Rin said before we followed her to a nearby inn where the actors from the play had taken Joy.

After a few minutes of checking Joy's condition and checking for any physical effects other than dizziness and fatigue, Levy walked out to the rest of us "Can you help her?" Rin asked worried "Don't worry, whoever it was isn't very good with potions, of Joy were a Desolate this would have been mildly worse but all she needs is water, some dragon fruit and a herb called mortlocker" she said calmly "I can find the dragon fruit" I said quickly, wanting to help in any way I could "Great, Drew you go find the mortlocker and Aaron go get me a large bowel filled halfway with water" Levy said, taking charge of the dire situation.

As I walked towards the exit I heard Chase ask "How well do you know potions exactly?" and was given an answer of "Let's just stay that if I really wanted to I could paralyse your body but heighten your nerves so they feel twice as much pain as usual" from Levy whom was giving off a creepy vibe.

Drew and I went our separate ways and we began aimlessly running around to find what we needed, even passing each other more than once in the prosses.

I was so busy trying to find what I needed that I completely forgot why I wasn't supposed to bring attention to myself.

Suddenly I fell to the ground, my whole body had gone limp "What's happening?" I asked as my body wouldn't move at all.

Without realising it I had run into a less populated area of town so nobody was around to help.

When I finally heard footsteps I looked up, happily welcoming whomever it was.

But my happiness turned to fear and terror.

Right in front of me was the creature of my nightmares… Giovanni "Hello my sweet little bat" he said as he stroked my hair from my face.

.

.

.

Merry Christmas everyone, enjoy this cliffhanger and let me know what you think of the newest chapters :)


	26. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25 – 3** **rd** **POV**

May glared up at the man "How did you find me?" she asked angrily. Giovanni smiled to himself "Ever since I saw you in that arena… I knew you weren't that delicate beauty from four years ago, this world has made you tough, so I followed you… I know you can go back to that sweet little thing you use to be… the quiet little girl that never spoke up and did as she was told" he said in a sickeningly tender tone.

"I only did that out of fear, believe me if you try that again you'll loose a few fingers" May warned with a snarl as he turned around a little shocked at her small outburst. He began to laugh, holding one hand on his stomach and another on his face "I don't doubt you… so that little drug in your system is going in anything you get fed" he said simply as her glare was momentarily replaced with a look of disgust and confusion "When did you sneek it into my food for this to happen?" she asked.

Goivanni turned to her with a wicked smirk "You remember that jam? I'm honestly shocked that you didn't recognise James was the one at the stall" he said with a smug tone "That wrinkled bag of skin was James?" May asked with a slight snicker "What did you say!?" a voice screamed from out of May's view.

May smirked, having heard his feminine footsteps not long ago.

Giovanni smiled at James and looked around a corner "Nobodies around, gag her and lets get out of here" he said before May was flipped onto her back and a ball of fabric was shoved into her mouth before another strip of fabric was forced over her mouth "Now I won't have to hear that smart mouth of yours" James mumbled angrily but also smugly before slinging her limp body over his shoulder.

~o~O~o~

"What do you mean May isn't back yet?" Drew demanded as he stood outside the room Joy was resting in "I mean we haven't seen her since you left" Levy said a little angrily as Joy was trying to rest while he was yelling.

"You said you passed by her a few times, right? Maybe she's still looking" Chase suggested as he tried to calm the two of them down "Just give her a little more time and I'm sure she'll show up" Rin suggested calmly as Delia nodded in agreement.

Just as it looked as if Drew had calmed down the door busted open "Your majesty we have trouble" Aaron announced as he walked in, followed by Brendan who had a black eye and was holding his arm, it having been dislocated a few minutes ago, "What happened?" Delia asked shocked as she rushed over to Brendan to give him a hand.

As Brendan was helped over to a seat Aaron looked directly at Rin "Giovanni's in town, two of his goons jumped Brendan in the harbour" he said seriously as everyone stood up immediately "Where's May?" Drew demanded "You mean she's missing?" Aaron asked as he looked at Brendan who was looking down to the ground, despite Delia telling him to look up so she can look at his eye.

"Right before Brendan was jumped he saw someone with them" Aaron said before Drew walked over to Brendan and lifted him by his collar, Brendan make a noise of distress and pain but Drew ignored him "Who was with them?" he asked, eyes filled with rage "I… I don't know, I barely got a glimpse… but they were leaving quickly" Brendan got out through his pain **"Who… was… it?"** Drew growled as his canines began to sharpen "Drew let him go he's in pain!" Levy yelled as she and Chase dragged him away from the wounded general.

Delia sat him down "Brendan just try to think, I know it'll be hard, it's obvious you hit your head, but please just try" she said sweetly.

Brendan looked back at Drew who was still pissed but got a reassuring nod from the two holding him back.

Rin walked over to him "Alright Brendan I'm going to lead you through this… or at least try" she said, mumbling the last part. Brendan looked at her and sighed "Worth a shot" he mumbled and steadied his breathing before closing his eyes "Alright… so you're doing your patrols of the harbour what happens to break your rout?" Rin asks in a calm voice.

Brendan thougth for a moment before he began to speak "I'm… I was walking… and I heard muffled sreaming… at first, I thought it was just the festivities getting to energetic... but then I realised it was coming from behind me" he said as he tried to remember absolutely everything "Okay so you follow the noise, what do you see when you find it?" Rin asked.

"I see… I see Giovanni, it's the closest I've ever seen him… theres a man with blue hair with him… there's a girl slung over his shoulder… that's when something from around the corner hit me with a large plank of wood" he said as his eyes squinted "What does she look like?" Rin asked "Brunette… wearing a blue dress" he mumbled.

"It's May! Giovanni has May! Didn't we already establish this?" Drew yelled as Levy and Chase were now just trying to keep him from leaving, drew making slight headway until Levy mumbled "If you keep this crap up I will bite you so you can't move" in his ear as Chase mumbled "And you know she'd do it" as Drew grumbled in response, relaxing enough so the two could let go but still stay close in case he decided to bolt.

"What happens after you get attacked? Did they mention where they were going?" Rin asked, still keeping calm "The were laughing… they were walking away when they asked if they should kill me… Giovanni says that… I'll serve as a message… that even if his property is taken to another country that he'll still find it" he said with anger rising as he now knew the scumbag was talking about May.

"Brendan focus, do you remember them even mentioning where they were going?" Aaron asked, joining in. Brendan played the scenes over and over in his mind, trying to remember what he heard, each time he replayed them the more he remembered "Somewhere called… Marlow?" he said unsure as he had no idea where that was.

"Where?" Levy asked as she let go of Drew "Marlow" Aaron said clearly.

Levy's knees gave out underneath her "Why would he bring her there of all places?" she mumbled "What happened in Marlow?" Drew whispered to Chase. Chase looked at Levy "That's where her family were killed" he mumbled as he remembered that horrible night before crouching down and helping Levy up.

Aaron walked over to Drew, knowing it wasn't right to ask Levy "Is Marlow in Quincy or another country?" he asked as Aaron was a noble who rarely left Lar-fisto "It's a small mining town surrounded in farm lands and thick forests… it's also well known for the Desolate burnings" Drew said as he remembered his countries dark history. Aaron looked at him shocked "Those actually happened? I thought it was just a rumour" Aaron said shocked as Drew mumbled "Well now you know they were real and the villagers still do it to this day" as he figured it must have been what happened to Levy's family.

The Desolate Burnings was a horrible even in Quincy's history. When Desolate first began appearing, the religious fanatics in Marlow believed that the Desolate were worshippers of the devil, as they thought it was the only logical solution to why survivors of a deadly plague not only survived but mutated, this belief spread to the whole country and that was when Desolate began to be repressed. A few months after this the priests would kill anyone infected with the disease and imprisoned all the Desolate in the town. As the jails began to overpopulate with innocent Desolate and a few humans accused by their neighbours, they were each lined up in the town square and force to transform into their half animal state where their scales, feathers, fur and wool were removed before they were tied to a ring of poles and burned, ten every day. In just short week all the Desolate they had captured were murdered and the things the townspeople took from them were sold at high prices, nobody but the few hidden Desolate feeling any remorse for what happened.

"Didn't May mention that she lived in an orphanage?" Aaron asked, connecting the dots "Yea, she told me that most of the kids there were the children of those Desolate" Drew mumbled.

Everything went silent until a fumbling sound came from Joy's room.

Rin rushed and opened the door "Joy what happened?" she asked as she ran over to the woman who was supposed to be in bed but was on the floor "Do you think I'm deaf? We have to get to that town" she wheezed out "We will go, you two stay here" Aaron said sternly as Rin shot him a confused look "Why? Joy is the best medic we've got, you'll need her" Rin tried to argue, ultimately trying to delay their leave.

As Rin helped Joy onto the bed Aron continues "That may be but Joy is poisoned and May is in the possession of the most dangerous slave trader known, and you can't just leave" he said as he walked closer "What because I'm a queen? You forget that I have training in self-defence and can fight with both swords and spears better than most men in my personal guard" she said as she stood close to him, everyone outside watching in wonder. "It's not that, I know you're more than capable but…" Aaron started before suddenly putting his hand on her stomach "Rin think of our child" he said seriously but lovingly as everyone outside, excluding Brendan who already knew about their relationship, was staring in disbelief.

Rin looked away blushing "Fine… but I don't want my child fatherless so if you die I won't forgive you" she threatened.

Suddenly Delia walked in with her arms stretched "I'm going to be a grandmother!" she yelled excited as she hugged the two young adults.

~o~O~o~

"Raise the anchor lads! Our ships going for open waters!" Brendan yelled to his crew who were previously lounging around "But we don't have any scheduled voyages-what happened to you?" Wally asked as he began to frantically check Brendan's eye and arm "Some assholes got the jump on me, and this is a mandatory voyage ordered by the queen, her personal guard sir Aaron will be joining us along with our pervious guests" he said calmly as he went to wake up his other crewmen who were just lounging around.

On the pier, next to the boat, Rin was hugging Aaron goodbye as Ash just stared, since hearing that he was going to be an uncle to the future ruler of a country he was in a state of shock and joy… but mostly shock since growing up Aaron wasn't great with the ladies.

Misty turned Ash towards the boat and walked him on board as Aaron followed.

"Where are Chase and Levy?" Drew asked impatiently. Rin looked to him and put a finger to her chin "I think Levy is running a few last checks on Levy… and Chase is with her, since hearing about where you guys are headed its eggshells around her" she said with a sigh.

Almost an hour passed and they were finally ready to leave "Alright men set sail!" Brendan yelled as her crew unravelled the sail "How long will it take us to reach Quincy?" Levy asked Wally "Well it took us a few days to get to Rota from Lorcan… so maybe a day or two more since we're headed for a town called Mysta" Wally said calmly "We're going to Mysta?" Chase asked "Why's that so shocking?" Wally asked "That town doesn't exist anymore" Levy said as she had visited the town in the past "Really?" Wally asked as he looked down at the map he had laid out on the ships deck, weighed down with a few rocks.

"What happened to it?" Wally asked "Back when the great plague swept the world, the whole town of Mysta were infected, once Desolate trading was legal the town was ransacked by slave traders and bandits, all the plants are overgrown and I'm not sure if the docks will still be together due to the lack of care" Chase said calmly "You sure know a lot about this town" Misty commented as she had been eavesdropping on the three of them "My father's a merchant, since Mysta was infected within a few days of the plague appearing, he and my mother were quarantined there when they caught the plague, they left a month before the town was destroyed" Chase said simply "Wait… both your parents were infected and survived?" Misty asked "Yea why?" Chase asked "That means you were born a Desolate" Wally said shocked.

Although the plague was eradicated six years ago, it had still lasted for two decades before then. Desolate below twenty were shockingly hard to come by as the plague killed mainly kids as their bodies couldn't handle the effects. It was even more rarer to find children born as Desolate, who are born with part of their animal traits showing and they can't take the appearance of a regular human until they're at least six to eight years old, any people who were against Desolate would report it immediately, making it hard for any Desolate to make a family.

Chase looked at Wally and Misty innocently as if it wasn't a big deal "How have you survived for so long?" Misty blatantly asked "Well when I was a small child they had a backpack with holed in the back to hide my wings and we were just really careful… until my sister had to leave after word got out about a Desolate family of four were traveling as merchants… Anyway I don't see how it's so shocking, Levy was born a Desolate… so was Leaf" he said referring to his sister.

That when it hit him, his sister "We can go to Lar-fisto, Delia's got a whole house we can all stay in and get weapons from the blacksmith" he said excited as he could see his big sister again "Why would we need weapons?" Wally asked as he was a pacifist and cringed at the mention of weapons "Umm Wally you do know what this mission is right?" Misty asked "We're rescuing May right?" he asked naively "Well yes… but we're also going to arrest Giovanni and his main followers" Misty said as Wally just stared at her "Excuse me for a moment" he said calmly before standing and walking towards Brendan's room.


	27. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26 – 3** **rd** **POV**

"Ah Wally, I was just about to get you, I read my last report on Mysta and it appears as if it's impossible to dock there as the pier has dilapidated, so the other town closest to Marlow would be Lar-fisto where Lady Delia's home is, shame she didn't come with us, we could have dropped her home" Brendan said from his desk as he struggled to fold up the things scattered over his desk as his right arm was currently in a sling and he was forced to use his non-preferred hand "Why didn't you tell me we were going on another mission that could end in out crewmates injured, two of them are still injured from the colosseum fight two and a half weeks ago" Wally complained with anger in his usual calm and joyful tone.

Brendan looked at him then at the ground "I didn't tell you because I knew that you would react like this… I don't know if you realise this Wally but every crewman on this ship have sworn their lives for the queen, you're the only one who is yet to do that" he said seriously "What does that have to do with anything?" Wally asked as he felt like Brendan was changing the topic "I know this might sound cruel but you aren't a citizen of Rota and therefore you have no say what happens on this ship, the crew are more than willing to lay down their lives for the queen and both humans and Desolate alike, if not they would still be back in Rota" he said strictly as Wally looked him dead on, this topic was often avoided as it brought up touchy subjects of Wally's past.

Wally may not be a Rota citizen but he's also the son of Quincy's king. While Brendan trusted him, not all of their crew's members trust him completely as most of them were victims to King Nathaniel's oppression and mistreating of their basic rights. They knew Wally wasn't his father but they were always weary around him.

Wally looked away from Brendan "I get that… but you could have at least told me… you're supposed to be my friend, you know that I have violence, so why not leave me back in Rota?" he questioned as Brendan walked over to him, putting his left hand on Wally's shoulder "Because what would I do without you?" he asked reassuringly as Wally just stared at him "What?" he asked with a slight blush "You're my closest friend and it's thanks to your battle plans that we've been so successful" Brendan said with a proud smile "Really?" Wally asked as he wasn't sure if Brendan was being serious or just saying it so he wouldn't get angrier "You doubt me? Wally you're by far one of the smartest people I know, you're only seventeen and you can outsmart everyone on this ship combined" Brendan said enthusiastically as Wally looked away from embarrassment, the young boy wasn't use to getting compliments, especially from Brendan.

Brendan smirked at his first mate's shyness before picking up one of the many papers on his desk "Look, if you want to stay in Lar-Fisto while we go to apprehend Giovanni you're more than welcome to" he said as he examined the paper before throwing it aside "What was that?" Wally asked, noticing the slightly sour look on his face "Message from my parents, they're setting up marriage meetings for me" he mumbled as he didn't care for his parents' intentions.

Wally looked away "Well… the old me would have jumped at the chance to stay in Lar-Fisto… but… you don't have many people on this ship that know medicines and injury treatment" he said as he looked back to see Brendan with a shocked expression "So you're coming?" he asked shocked as Wally nodded, although Brendan noticed Wally's shaking hands. Brendan smiled, happy to know that the usually timid Wally was trying to step out of his comfort zone "Well then you'd better let the navigator know the change of plans" Brendan said as he sat back at his desk, shuffling through more documents and small maps that covered his desk and the floor around it.

Any other day Wally would have scolded Brendan for the untidy stare of his office, but he knew Brendan's quirks, when Brendan was worried he becomes untidy and clumsy, sometimes losing control of his emotions.

~o~O~o~

{May's POV}

I was awoken from my blissful sleep from intense heat coming from the side of my leg, just above my outer left ankle, at first it was pleasant, it was the kind of warmth that you'd huddle up to on a cold day, but it quickly turned scorching.

I yanked my foot back and stood up quickly, only to hit my head and fall back down.

I rubbed my head as my eyes adjusted to the light "Haha I can't believe how funny that was!" a familiar voice said from my side.

As my eye's adjusted completely I saw that I was inside a cage on wheels, currently stationary in a makeshift camp.

I looked to the source of the voice and was surprised to see Mars, she was wearing her usual hoop skirt but it now actually suited her outfit, she was clean looking and her appearance almost screamed wealthy.

"M-Mars?" I asked as I looked at the object in her hands, it was a branding rod, and its red hot.

Realising what it meant, I quickly looked at my ankle to see a decorative 'G' burned into my skin "What?" I mumbled before looking back at her and her wicked smirk "Why?" I asked, I know I'm not her favourite person but to think she'd go this far.

Mars gave me a disgusted look and sighed "I was told to put that on you in case you tried to run again" she grumbled like it was perfectly okay to brand me. She chuckled and folded her arms "Giovanni isn't happy with you… four years ago, when you ran off, he went a little mad, he'd follow every lead on girls with your description, even going as far as to killing the girls who were supposed to be you" she said bored while I was disturbed at how easily she was saying such things "How would you know about this?" I asked as last I heard Brendan wacked her over the head with the handle of a gun, why was she here now?

Mars sighed again before throwing the branding rod into a bucket of water "After that little area business, Giovanni bought me, said I was rare and that I would be added to his collection… but obviously not rare enough to go to the lengths he's going through to get you" she said spitefully "What are you talking about? I'm not even a person to that creep, to him I'm some object he enjoys parading around in cutesy outfits while wearing a collar and chain, I'd take your job any day" I sighed as Mars continued to glare at me "Look at you, you're like someone who would sympathizing with a starving man whilst eating a feast in front of him" she spat before throwing the rod at the cage, making a loud noise as it hit the cage bars.

I sat there in my cage, watching as the men and women moved about "Hey there May" a kind voice said, I looked into the cage next to me to see a beautiful young girl. She was a type of bird, crow I think, both her wings were out and I could easily see that one was broken while her body was covered in bruises.

At first, I had no idea who she was or how she knew me but then it clicked "Cora?" I asked as she smiled weakly "Hey… so you're back" Cora stated, obviously feeling sorry for me "Your wing… you tried to escape again, didn't you?" I asked.

Cora nodded with a smile before it quickly faltered and she turned around, obviously, what was headed my way wasn't good.

I turned around to see none other than Giovanni "Oh my that looks like it hurts" he referred to my ankle "If you aren't careful that could get infected" he added with a coy smile "What do you want?" I hissed.

He smirked up at me and threw a folded cloth at me "What do you want me to have a bath?" I asked annoyed as I didn't even look at the cloth. "While that would be ideal, you need to change into that before we get to Marlow, you remember your routine yes?" he asked as I stared at him, memories of all the times I would have to bring in customers with a dance that was torturous to learn… and I mean it, there are 112 steps and whatever step I missed or messed up were however many lashes Jessie would give me.

My hands began to shake and he reached into the cage, grasping one of my hands "There, there, even if you get something wrong I won't punish you this time" he said like he was trying to act as if I were his misbehaving daughter… oh god I'm making myself want to vomit.

He smiled at me warmly but I only found it creepy. He let my hands go and began walking off to his workers.

I looked around again before looking at the cloth to see it was a lilac coloured Arabian nights costume. It was in two pieces and a lot of my stomach would be shown off… including my scars.

I looked around and saw that everyone was packing up "Hey Cora, what's going on?" I asked the younger girl in the cage next to me "I overheard that Giovanni's in a rush, going all the way to Rota to get you put him behind schedule" she whispered "Wait, we're back in Quincy? How'd we get here so fast?" I asked as I knew it took several days to cross the ocean "Fast? We spent almost a week on the ocean… you must have been asleep for all of it" she said a little shocked, obviously wondering how I could have slept for so long.

I sighed and looked to the sky, it was early, the sun had bearly begun to rise, but I could still faintly see a few stars leftover "What's taking so long guys?" I asked to myself.

~o~O~o~

{3rd POV}

Drew and the others arrived at Lar-fisto early this morning, Dawn and Paul had gotten word from Rin that they were arriving so the young couple was eagerly waiting at the docks for them "Drew!" Dawn yelled excided as she practically tackled Drew in a welcoming hug "We weren't expecting you until the party, why'd you come back early? Did you miss me? Where's May?" she babbled.

At the mention of May's name, Drew looked away "Dawn, it's good to see you again" Misty interrupted "Oh Misty it's good to see you" Dawn said kindly before noticing something and smirking "So you and Ash made up huh?" she asked with a cheeky tone as she looked down to their hands that were clasped together.

Both teens blushed and smiled at each other. Misty looked to the crew behind her before looking back at Dawn "We need your help with something… something dangerous, can we meet with your mother?" she asked as Dawn tilted her head in confusion "Umm... sure… why the seriousness?" she asked, having now noticed the atmosphere.

Ash and Misty leaned in closer to Dawn and Paul, the later of whom was dragged over, before giving them a brief rundown of what happened and what was going to happen.

Dawn stepped back, a little shocked "So you want us to help catch the most dangerous slave trading groups?" she asked a little shocked "You don't have to say yes" Misty reassured as she worried that she sounded as if she was pressuring Dawn into helping them.

Dawn was silent for a moment before walking straight over to Brendan "I swear if it's not one person that's mad at him it's another" Misty mumbled "What did you expect? He's a man of the military, a noble and well trusted by the queen… plus add in the reluctant attitude to telling things to others… I think he makes enemies easily" Drew commented a little smugly before looking at Paul "How do you feel about all of this?" he asked as Paul sighed "I'm happy with whatever Dawn wants to do" he said simply as the three older teens looked at the fifteen-year-old with shock but also something like proudness for his maturity.

Paul blushed at the teasing looks they were giving him "W-What?" he asked as the three of them smiled and chimed "Nothing".

"Bird brain!" someone yelled from the entrance to the harbour. Everyone looked over to see a beautiful young girl with chestnut coloured hair waving with a huge smile on her face. Standing next to the girl was a young man with rusty brown hair, dressed like a merchant.

A strong gush of wind rushed past the teens as Chase flew over the top of them and right for the pair.

Chase landed a few meters from the pair and ran into the girl's arms "Hey there ya big rat" he said with a large smile as he squeezed the girl tightly "So this must be Chase" the man guessed with a chuckle. Chase looked at the man from over the girl's shoulder "Leaf who's this?" he asked as Leaf let go of him "This is Gary… my… fiancé" she said slowly as Chase looked from Gary to Leaf and back several times before locking eyes on Gary "I'm not sure how I like this" he mumbled.


	28. Chapter 27

**Chapter 27**

Drew paced back and forth in Ash's family garden, they decided it was a smart choice to spend the next day or two in Lar-fisto to gather information and rest, Drew was only doing one of these.

"How long has he been doing that?" Levy asked Misty who was sitting in a chair near the lit fire whilst reading a book "A while" she answered calmly "Aren't you worried he's gonna get sick or something?" Levy asked glancing back to the young man "He'll be fine, if he's still out there past midnight then we'll just have to force him inside" Misty said calmly as if she'd done exactly that before.

Levy sighed and rested her head on the window seal, Drew wasn't the only one worried about May… she just hid it better.

Ever since Leaf announced her relationship with Gary, Chase has been too preoccupied with making sure he was the right guy for his sister, it was his own way of keeping his mind from worrying, but at the same time he left Levy alone to stress about the situation.

Misty was obviously using reading as a distraction, while Ash was busy strategizing their attack plan, in all the years Misty had known Ash, she had never seen him take such initiative, in just one day he was bossing Brendan and his crew around.

Dawn's family have provided weapons and medicines just as they had hoped, they were more than ready to make their move… but there was still the issue of Marlow being a serious anti-Desolate town to the point that if you want to enter via normal means then you have to have papers that guarantee you aren't a Desolate, so Dawn's mother has been contacting a few of her underground network connections to get convincing fake documents so they could enter the area. Oddly enough if you were to leave they wouldn't care how, you're someone else's problem.

Levy was snapped out of her thoughts when the front door opened and several pairs of footsteps entered the house's entrance.

Misty knew they weren't expecting anyone anymore since it was night time. She shot Levy a look of slight worry, Levy understanding it shifted into her snake from and slithered under one of the lounges, ready to attack if needed.

Misty closed her book and slowly wondered out to the entrance, teeth already slightly sharp in case of a surprise attack.

As she reached the entrance she calmed down instantly "False alarm Levy… I know these two" she said with a smile as she rushed over to Steven and Brawley and hugging the both of them "I thought you two were in the desert trading goods with the citizens of Granite" she stated as they both smiled at her "We were but when we heard about what happened we stopped the trade and came back" Steven said calmly "Is that smart for a merchant?" Misty asked warily "I own a merchant guild, I doubt one trade will make a difference" Steven said calmly "Famous last words" Levy commented as she walked over to the trio "Who is this lovely young lady?" Steven asked, being a gentleman.

Levy snickered at the word Lady, knowing she was anything but that, but held out her hand "Levy Revvits, it's nice to meet you whoever you are" she said casually as Brawley shook her hand "I like you kid, you're pretty chill" he commented "Likewise" Levy stated. Misty smiled "Levy this is Steven and Brawley, they use to regularly work in the castle when Drew still lived there" she said calmly as the men nodded their heads as their names were said.

"Steven? Brawley?" Ash asked as he walked downstairs from the study "Ashy boy!" Brawley yelled enthusiastically as he man-hugged Ash while Steven calmly walked over and gave him a handshake, Steven wasn't much for physical affection of any kind… so pure XD.

"What are you two doing here?" Drew asked as he walked inside "Prince Andr… sorry… Drew, how have you been holding up?" Steven asked as Drew shrugged, knowing they would have heard what they needed from Dawn if they knew where to find them "You didn't answer me" Drew said simply as Brawley chuckled "Straight to the point huh?" he commented before Steven gestured for them to all go into the sitting room, all seated around a large coffee table.

"We heard you were gathering soldiers to capture Giovanni for the queen of Rota and figured you wouldn't mind us helping out" Steven said calmly as Brawley firmly nodded "We also have something that might help you out" Brawley said as he took out a piece of paper with a fancy G sketched on it "Giovanni has recently been using branding as a trust exercise when people become his worker, if you don't brand yourself then you get kicked out or killed" he explained before Steven took over "What's worse is that since he likes to collect rare Desolate, he's begun branding them too, no doubt your friend has already been branded" he explained, glancing at Drew to see he was clearly not happy with what he was hearing.

"I know that mark" Leaf stated.

Everyone looked to the girl, shocked, they didn't even hear her come downstairs or her bedroom door open.

Steven handed her the paper "Are you sure?" he asked seriously as she took the paper "Yea… I saw a guy by the port this afternoon while you guys were unloading the ship, I thought it was a tattoo or something, clearly I was wrong" she stated as the others stared at her "What was he doing there?" Misty asked as Leaf shrugged "It's not like I actually went up to the guy and started a conversation, he was only there for a short time, before I knew it he was gone" she explained as Steven went into thinker mode "If we're lucky that was just a scout, if not they might still be watching us" he mumbled "They aren't" Drew said confidently "How would you know?" Levy asked curiously "I'd have smelt their scent by now if they were anywhere near here" he said calmly "He's got a point" Ash said "But even so, why would they be looking here for Desolate?" Misty asked as Leaf interjected "Around a quarter of the citizens here in Lar-fisto are Desolate in hiding, Desolate traders are good at distinguishing human from Desolate, to them Lar-fisto is a slave trading gold mine" she said darkly as she remembered the several times Gary had covered for her.

~o~O~o~

"I'm hungry" May mumbled, they had been traveling along mountain roads and across rivers for the entire day, not stopping once to eat. Now that it was dark and everyone was eating dinner, the caged Desolate, and the occasional human, were drooling over the smell and sight of juicy meat and steamed vegies only to get a very small proportion of cold soup that had no flavour "I miss Wally's cooking" May mumbled as she sprawled her arms and legs through the cage bars and stretching.

She laid there for a few minutes, having eaten the flavourless slop, and just stared up at the stars again "If you look carefully you can see the Virgo constellation tonight… that's you star sign, right?" Cora asked as May looked at her with a quirked eyebrow "What's a star sign?" she asked as Cora looked at her a little surprised but then remembered how May grew up "Each month has a constellation, your birthday's in September so it means you're a Virgo" Cora explained "That sounds pretty useless" May commented, to hungry to sugar coat it "Some people can tell your future just from your star sign" Cora informed, getting May's attention "How?" she asked but just got a shrug in return.

"Stop your chatting!" a man yelled from his makeshift bed next to the fire "Make me!" May yelled, again too angry to sugar coat things.

The man got up and started storming over but was stopped by Giovanni "Calm down my good sir, it's just hungry" Giovanni said, stepping between May's cage and the man. The man turned around with a grumble and wondered back over to his bed. "I'd really rather you not provoke my workers May" Giovanni said while rubbing his temples "And I'd rather you not treat me as an object, but we can't all have what we want can we?" May shot back with a glare.

Giovanni glared at her slightly before pulling out two apples and putting them next to her cage "Eat, you're a bitch when you're hungry" he commented as he walked away.

May stared at eh apples for a split second before snatching them "Cora, catch" she whispered as she reached her hand out as far as possible before doing a tiny toss so the other girl could catch the fruit "Are you sure?" she asked as May smiled, biting into the one she kept "Eat. You need energy if you want your wing to heal" she informed as Cora smiled at her "Thanks" she mumbled as May rolled over to go to sleep.

~o~O~o~

"Wake up snow flake, we're leaving" Wally announced as he pushed Brendan off his bed. Brendan sat up grumbling "Don't you start using that nickname too" he mumbled with a yawn before looking outside "Wally the sun isn't even up yet… why are we leaving now?" he asked before his coat was thrown at him "We have little time to spare so leaving earlier is only logical, just sleep in the carriage if it's that bad" Wally said before leaving the room "just three days ago he'd be too chicken to do that" Brendan mused, he felt like he should be mad at the young teen… but he felt more like a proud older brother.

He left his cabin and disembarked the Equaliser "I'll see you in a while" he said to the mumbled before heading to the Ketchum mansion.

Once arriving he was surprised at the number of both humans and Desolate that were there. The crowd was mainly chatting amongst themselves about the situation they got themselves into.

Brendan gradually made his way to the front to see Wally with Levy, Chase and Leaf "About time you get here" Leaf commented right before the crowd went quiet.

Brendan looked up to see that Ash was standing on the balcony "Welcome Human and Desolate alike, we are gathered here to discuss a threat to both species" he announced "Giovanni has terrorised this country for too long, taking anyone he thinks is valuable no matter if they are human or Desolate" he informed as several people in the crowd cheered and yelled agreements "Well I say no more! No longer shall we live in fear of that man! In a few short minutes we will begin our track to the small town of Marlow where we will capture him and bring him to justice!" he yelled as the crowd erupted with cheer and some war cries, several Desolate yelling in their animal calls.

Ash put a hand up to silence the crowd "Alright now… for those of you who would like to sit this one out… this is your last chance to back out… I won't blame anyone here if they'd rather stay behind to protect their family" he announced calmly.

After a few discretely left, the rest cheered, ready to fight "Alright then! Let's go get that scoundrel!" Ash yelled as the crowd began to move out.


	29. Chapter 28

**Chapter 28**

 **May's POV**

Marlow hasn't changed since I left. The stiff atmosphere of people living day to day and nothing interesting happened lingered everywhere you go.

As I was carted through town people recognized me, throwing fruits and rocks at me for 'deceiving' them.

We arrived at the town square and Giovanni threw something into my cage.

It was a traditional dancing outfit, coins and all.

"Your old one is too small so I had a new one made" he said as he threw a large cloth over the cage "Now get changed, you're on first" he added before the sounds of his footsteps grew quieter.

I unwrapped the clothes and my eye twitched.

My old dancing outfit was a one piece dress that was suitable for a child, this one though, it's a two piece. The top was basically a bra and the pants were a pair of short shorts with see through fabric that would become baggy when worn.

If I had any say in it I wouldn't be caught dead in something so revealing… but since it's wear this of be publically flogged with nothing on, this was a better choice.

After getting dressed I was taken to Butch, he was in charge of trinkets and was told to give me a sash for my waist, tied up with a fake gold broach, accompanied with bracelets, a gold choker, and several necklaces.

"Take those out" he demanded, pointing at the earrings my mother left me "I think I already have enough jewellery" I commented as he tilted his head "What is it about those earrings that makes you want to hang on to them so badly?" he asked as I slightly covered my ears.

He sighed "Giovanni wants you to wear long dangling earrings… the only way you'll be able to keep those ones on is if I pierce your ears again" he said as I thought about it.

When I was first brought here Butch pierced my ears so my earrings wouldn't be taken from me, it's not like he was really helping me out but it was a kind gesture.

I sighed and took them out, clenching my hands before giving him a serious look "Do it" I said as he looked at me surprised.

"Whatever happened to that shy little girl that cowered before me asking for me to pierce her ears?" he asked with a slight chuckle and ruffled my hair "You're all grown up now" he said before taking out the equipment to pierce my ears.

I clenched my fists and awaited the red hot needle that he would jab through my earlobe, it hurt at first but the second one was much easier since I was already use to the burning feeling.

When he finished I was wearing the stupid earrings Giovanni had me wear, and just behind them were my mother's earrings.

I turned to Butch "Thank you" I said with a genuine smile.

He returned my smile and took out a head piece, tying my hair up and placing it in place and securing it with hairpins.

He was about to say something but someone suddenly grabbed my wrist "How long do you have to take?" Mars asked angrily as she dragged me over to a large cage they had set up for me.

"Hold on" she said as she grabbed a chain, attaching it to my leg "So you don't think about running off" she said before shoving me in.

I sat up and looked at the skin I had exposed, all the scars, bruises and burns that I usually covered were now on full display for all to see. All I could think about was what was taking the others so long to save me… for Drew to save me.

 **Drew's POV**

We arrived in the woods out skirting Marlow only a few minutes ago and we were shocked to see that the town was rather lively, almost like a festival.

I myself was sitting by the carriages, watching the townsfolk run around in the distance.

"Disgusting" I heard Ash comment with pure disgust.

I looked up and saw he was glaring at the town "Its slave trading and they treat it like a celebration" he commented as I hummed in agreement before looking around at the crowd of Desolate and humans.

"Where did Dawn and Paul run off to?" I asked as Ash pointed towards a large farm with a small house in the middle "Apparently Paul has a relative that lives there" he said simply, but I could tell he was glad that the two youngest in the group had a safe place to go.

"Paul's related to Lady Parrington?" Chase asked from behind us.

Ash and I turned around to look at him with a slightly confused look "Lady who?" Ash asked as Chase looked at us with a simple look "Lady Parrington, she's the one who helped May and I escape this place a few months back" he said simply as I looked back to the farm house "So she's the one who helped" I mumbled, remembering May telling me about a kind old lady that saved her and Chase from Giovanni.

"Their starting the auction soon" Levy said in a quiet voice.

For the short time that I've known her she's been confident, loud, extremely teasing and rather funny. But her behaviour has done a complete one eighty in the past few days, now she's quiet and anti-social. It didn't take a genius to see that even hearing that we were going to Marlow has affected her, whatever happened here must have been horrible.

"So is the survey group heading our first?" I asked her as she nodded.

She and Chase aren't allowed to come into town unless a fight breaks out, the two of them would easily be recognized by the citizens.

I stood up and picked up a hat Dawn had prepared for me earlier, it was specially made to look like I had different hair by sewing a wig into it, all I have to do is tuck all my hair into it.

I grabbed my bag and slung it over my shoulder "I'll head out first" I announced as everyone continued to prepare.

"I'll come with you" Paul announced as he walked back into camp with Dawn and a woman whom I assumed was Lady Parrington.

Without giving me a chance to refuse or accept he grabbed a coat and walked ahead of me.

We walked for a few minutes before entering the town's main street "So how are you related to Lady Parrington?" I asked, trying to make conversation "She's my grandmother" he said calmly.

"Does that mean your family all got infected at the same time?" I asked curiously.

He was silent for a moment "My grandmother… was one of the first to be infected… long before the outbreak… she had my father with a human so he was born a Panther Desolate, and then he married my human mother and had me and my older brother" he said calmly "Wait… you're a third generation Desolate?" I asked a little shocked "I thought Desolate were always born a different animal to their parents" I added, slightly confused.

He sighed "Of course a prince raised by the king wouldn't know" he mumbled before speaking up "When a Desolate has a child with a human the child is born the same type as the Desolate parent, however when two Desolate have children, the children can be anything from a bird to a lizard to a dog" he informed me.

"I never knew that" I commented as I wondered how he knew this… although I suppose if you live most of your life as a Desolate you would know this stuff.

"Well of course you wouldn't know, the king raised you with little to no knowledge other than the fact that Desolate are dangerous and need to be treated as second class compared to humans, and besides, you only left the king's supervision less than a year ago so I can't blame you for not knowing" he said calmly.

We reached the town square where Giovanni had set up a bunch of cages where the Desolate he wasn't selling would perform, no doubt we'll see May in one of them.

"Drew, found her" Paul said as he pointed to a larger cage near the front.

We made our way through the crowd of people before eventually making it to the front. I looked up and went wide eyed.

May was swiftly moving around, wings spread and the light fabrics of her outfit swayed with her. But that's not what I was focusing on, all over her stomach and back were scars and old injuries… on her legs I could even spot a few new ones.

Suddenly a bright light flashed through the cage and she fell over.

I looked to the side to see that Mars girl, smiling devilishly with a few sparks jumping from her fingers.

After realising what she had done my gaze went back to May, who was rubbing her bleeding feet.

"You weren't smiling, you need to remind the customers that you're nothing but something for them to ogle at" Mars snarled as she reached into the cage and dragged May into the bars by her hair "Right… I'll do that" May wheezed out before Mars leaned in "Good, now get back to work" she said and shoved May back into the cage.

If it wasn't for Paul holding me back I would have torn that girl limb from limb, for a fifteen-year-old, Paul was strong.

May struggled to her feet, shooting a rude finger in Mar's direction before putting on a forced smile and continuing her dance.

"Mars! Get over here!" Goivanni yelled, obviously angry for what she had just done.

 **May's POV**

Serves her right, zapping my feet like that.

I kept my forced smile and continued the dance, ignoring the eyes on me and just concentrated on my dancing.

Everything was going great; my steps were correct and none of the workers were checking on me anymore.

After a few more minutes of dancing a cloth covered my cage and the back door opened with Giovanni standing there with a bucket and a clear jar of what I could guess is ointment for my feet.

Knowing that with the small exit and the chain around my ankle would stop me from escaping I let him treat my feet.

"I apologise for what she did" he said kindly but it only succeeded in grossing me out.

"It's fine, I should have realised that this kind of thing would happen when I came back here" I said as I tried to not piss him off.

He bandaged my feet and gave me a basket of fruits "You can just sit there and eat for now, with your advanced healing you should be well enough to keep dancing in a few hours" he said as he left the gate open, all just to taunt me and remind me that I can't leave.

Figuring to get the best out of my situation, I sat comfortably and began to peel an orange.

"May?" a familiar voice asked.

My eyes went wide… it can't be.

I slowly sat up and turned to the cage opening to see a young child standing there "Max?".


	30. Chapter 29

**Chapter 29 – 3** **rd** **POV**

May stared wide eyed at her little brother, he was just standing there with a shocked expression, and her wings were in plain view for him to see.

"May? What… where have you been?" he asked, obviously still shocked to have found her.

"Umm… I've…" she tried but the words wouldn't form.

Suddenly, without warning, he climbed into the cage and tackled her in a hug.

"You're okay, you're here" he cried as he clung to her.

May stared down at him, eyes wide and mouth slightly open. At the very least she thought he would call her a liar or tell her he hated her for keeping it a secret… but he didn't, he just clung to her as if she would disappear if he let go.

May hugged him back "I was so worried about you" she whispered as his tears fell.

They sat there for a few minutes, neither wanting to let go.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked as one of his hands touched her wing.

May slowly let him go "You were raised here… told that Desolate were a freak of nature… monsters" she explained as he looked down.

"I only said that so I could blend in… if I said otherwise I'd be punished" he said lowly as his eyes were glued to the appendages that came out of his sisters back.

May knew what he meant, the orphanage was constantly visited by religious leaders to teach the children about the world, and drag the word Desolate though the mud. Any time one of the kids disagreed in the slightest they would be punished.

"But you were attacked by a Desolate" she stated as she looked at the three scared claw marks on his right forearm.

He noticed her gaze and covered his arm "I know that… but it was just a crazed woman who was trying to leave this place, I'm not going to hate her for it… nor would I hate all Desolate for the actions of one" he said in a low but prideful voice.

He looked up to see his sister was truly touched from his words "What's wrong?" he asked, worried he had said the wrong thing.

May smiled warmly "Nothing… it's just that you sounded like dad just now" she said as Max looked away, embarrassed at her words but also somewhat sad as he was only a toddler when their parents died so he wouldn't know if he acted like his father or not.

"What happened to you?" he suddenly asked as he only just noticed the scars that covered his sisters body.

"Oh… those are… well they're from several years of dealing with these people" she said.

"Is that why you would always wear pants and never go swimming with us?" he asked, feeling bad that he had never noticed before.

After a short silence, May changed the subject when she realised Max was there on his own "What happened to the fat ass that runs the orphanage?" she asked, not even hesitating to call him that.

Max chuckled at his sister's words.

"After you left, he was executed for housing a Desolate and the religious group took over, they let us wonder around during these events to apparently teach us the 'rightful places' of humans and Desolate in society" he said as if it wasn't amazing that a ten-year-old was saying something so advanced for what his age group would usually know.

May was used to it though, her little brother was always too smart for his own good.

"So… what's your plan to escape?" he asked.

May looked at him and then the floor "I'll be honest with you… I got nothing" she admitted as he frowned, it wasn't like her to not have any smart quips or ideas in a situation like this.

His eyes drifted to the chains "If that was unlocked or broken would you just be able to fly out of here?" he asked as she nodded.

"I could fly but there are people ready with crossbows and net launchers stationed around the town in case those of us with wings try to escape" she said as she heard the people walking around the cage.

Max thought for a second but was suddenly shoved behind May and basically cocooned in her wings.

"What was that for?" he asked.

"Shh, someone's approaching" she said as she was ready to protect her brother if need be.

They waited for a few seconds before the familiar face of Mars came into view.

"What? Giovanni finally done scolding you?" May asked with a smirk, annoying Mars.

Mars scowled at her, ignoring her words and slid in a plate with a piece of chicken on it.

May looked at it sceptically "What? Trying to give me salmonella now?" she asked angrily, knowing that Mars had no intention of helping her out.

She grumbled "Its lunch break, everyone else is eating" she stated, but May wasn't convinced.

Mars sighed and picked up a piece, eating it "Happy now?" she asked, showing May her empty mouth.

After several awkward seconds of silence May picked a small piece up and ate it. Mars turned around without another word and walked away, leaving the two siblings alone again.

"Who's she?" Max asked.

"Her mother use to work for our parents… she caught the Desolate Plague from me not long before you were born and hates me for it" May explained as Max looked at her newly bandaged feet.

"Did she do that?" he asked as she hummed a yes.

"She's resentful towards me because her mother was murdered for helping our parents" she stated before continuing to eat.

Max just stared at her, somewhat angrily.

"Are you kidding me?" he asked suddenly, shocking her.

"What?" she asked as he stood up, obviously angry about something.

"Are you complacent with being a pet?" he asked, voice rather loud.

"A pet?" she asked confused.

"Here you are, the most outspoken and independent person I know and you're fine with people keeping you in a cage, feeding you and injuring you into obedience?" he asked as May just stared at him, eyes wide, shocked that he would say such a thing.

"Max I" she started but he interrupted.

"But nothing! You aren't the kind of person to be okay with this kind of thing!" he yelled.

Silence hung over them like a suffocating blanket of fog, neither speaking a word.

"I couldn't agree more" a voice said from the door.

The two siblings looked over to see a young man with brown hair and green eyes.

"Who're you?" Max asked as the young man smirked.

"Drew?" May asked, unsure if it was really him or not.

The young man smiled warmly "Hey Princess" he said before she quickly crawled over and hugged him.

"What are you doing here? If you're caught your father will find out about you" she questioned as she looked him dead in the eye as he smiled.

"Don't worry about it, what matters now is that I found you" he said before she hugged him again.

He held her tight, eyes looking down at the injuries on her body and her wrapped feet. He couldn't help but feel guilty, if only he had gone with her she wouldn't have been taken.

"Umm… May? Who's this guy?" Max asked sceptically.

May let go of Drew and turned to Max "Max, this is Drew, he's helped me out a lot these past few months" she said before turning to Drew "This is my little brother Max" she introduced him for her.

"Your brother? The way you described him was… well he seemed a lot older with how you talked about him" Drew said shocked.

Suddenly Drew was grabbed by the back of his neck and was forced to the floor by a burly man.

"So you have a little brother I see" Giovanni said from behind the man and Drew, whom was slightly disoriented from the sudden hit.

"Leave him alone, Max isn't a Desolate" she said as she moved in front of her brother protectively, unable to stand due to the injuries on her feet.

"Oh? Really now?" Giovanni asked as he walked into the cage and picked May up and throwing her into the bars, right by where Drew was being held down.

"Asshole!" he yelled as he tried to stand up only for his face to be slammed into the pavement.

Giovanni loomed over Max "So kid, what do you think you're doing here? It's off limits for those of us who don't work with us" he said threateningly as Max began to cower in fear.

"I-I'm sorry" he barely got out as he backed away from the scary man.

Giovanni grabbed his arm and dragged him out, shoving him back towards the crowd "If I catch you back there again you'll get a lot more than a warning" he threatened before walking back to Drew.

"What about you kid? He was here to see his sister, why're you here?" he asked as the man pulled Drew up.

"Just saying hi to an old friend" he lied before Giovanni and the man chuckled.

"Seems like you have an admirer Maybelle" he said as he and the large man said chuckling.

"Maybelle?" Drew asked as the name seemed familiar.

"You didn't know?" Giovanni asked chuckling "This little lady here is the heiress to the Maple Estate, head of the richest nobles in the country, reduced to a lowly slave girl, nothing more than my pet" he said as Drew glared at him.

Sure, he was shocked at the fact of May's title, but the way he talked about her made his blood boil. May was nobody's pet and she sure as hell deserved a bigger title than a noble.

"How can you talk about her like that?" Drew asked, looking to the blood stains on the pavement.

Giovanni smirked "Easy, she belongs to me" he stated as Drew's glare turned murderous, May was nobody's property.

The man keeping Drew on the ground lifted him up, forcing him to face Giovanni "Now lover boy, I'm just going to let you off with a warning too" he said with a sickeningly sweet smile before it turned dark.

"But if I catch you here again I won't hesitate to kill you" he threatened as his protective side kicked in.

Before Drew could even answer, the large man pushed him back out to the crowd, spitting at his feet before walking off. Drew looked back to see May had lifted the cloth, a pleading look on her face.

It took all the strength he had to not transform and rip those damn bars and chains off her and run away with her, but he knew if he did anything of the sort he'd have a few dozen arrows in his back and ruin any hope of taking Giovanni by surprise.

"I'll come back for you" he mouthed as she nodded back to him.

He re-joined Paul whom had more than a few words for Drew's bloody nose as they walked back to where the others were waiting.


End file.
